The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to get the most feathers with the least hissing - Jeane Baptiste Colbert
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Thieves nick copper cables, cut broadband service
ABOUT 1,400 British Telecom subscribers in the Farningham area of Kent were left without broadband after three kilometres of copper cabling was stolen
Engineers are having to work night and day to replace the stolen cables, which a BT statement described as a “very complex and time consuming repair job”.
Six cables were cut in five places, but services have been restored for most of those affected, with all services likely to be restored by Tuesday evening.
This isn't the first time something like this has happened in the area, with a similar incident having occurred in September of last year.
Irate BT customer Tom Greenleaf told the BBC, “Everyone in the local area is very angry about this, especially as it is the second time in the last year.”
Copper theft is becoming an increasing problem as the metal has shot up in price during the last couple of years.
It is obviously difficult to guard cabling that stretches over long distances, and attacks have been reported throughout the country in the last year.
However, if you really think about it, the thieves might be doing us a favour in the long run, as you'd reckon that the thefts might hasten the companies towards putting in optical fibre cables instead, which don't sap broadband signals as much as copper does over long distances.
But dumb cable thieves have been known to make off with the far less valuable optical fibre cables as well. µ
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Just "traffic shaping". If those users wouldn't have been file sharing and hogging up all the internet, their ISP wouldn't have been forced to cut the cord...
Once is Mistake, Twice IS Charm. Could Be Midgets in Local Curcus, Using Wire for Tight rope. Could Be LONDON Monster Has Come Back.
Lady GaGa has changed Telephone to Full Frontal Nudity & looks Very Pretty. Steal That if Want Something Worth IT.
drashek
It seems like everything else is an entitlement in your country so why not copper theft? Oh wait, you guys don't have the right to defend yourselves. Sorry, my bad...
Our state-run Telecom has already solved that problem -- they hired heavily armed trigger-happy mercs to guard the cabling. Nobody dares to cut cables anymore.
Oh no. That mean more coppers!
And are they government? A default "nasty corporation"?
Vivisectionists?
Religious fanatics?
Certainly, since they're operating surreptitiously with the whole fake copper theft, we can't necessarily trust any Hufflepuff; they just spend the day making stuff with safety scissors and glitter.
What about the Moonies?
Just so you know,...
people have said it's creepy here.
It was the RIAA/MPAA - or british equivalent. If you have no internet connection then you might actually by a CD or DVD.
I wonder how much the cabling they took was copper? Most cabling only has copper cladding and is worth next to nothing. The reason for cladding is because AC sine waves travel on the outside of a conductor, so there is no need for the core to be as conductive as the skin.
If you think copper is the new gold you should see the prices of bronze, man o man.
So to the thieves: steal crappy modern statues instead, no digging and you get a huge chunk in one go and you can melt is down and sell it back to the artist and you don't disrupt services, thanks.
You can find them on the lawns of insurance firms, who are closed after 5, just saying..
I read about thieves stealing lightning rods and wiring too, now that's nasty too since you might not notice until the place is on fire or you are fried.
not to spread rumours or lies or point fingers at innocent old grandmothers but methinks the content mafia did this to protect their precious ones and zeroes that they feel they own. :P
Should thieves of cable be treated as the later-day great train robbers and feel the full extent of the law?