Bell announced Wednesday it has made security enhancements to its network, including the installation of aerial alarms, to enhance reliability and protect critical communications infrastructure from vandalism and copper theft.
The alarms are designed to provide real-time alerts to local law enforcement as soon as an incident is detected, allowing them to respond quickly and ideally catch vandals and thieves in the act, says a Bell press release.
Alarms installed earlier this year in New Brunswick have already resulted in arrests, Bell says. On Feb. 26, an aerial alarm in Fredericton notified the local RCMP detachment of a cable cut. RCMP officers were quickly dispatched and they arrested two suspects at the time of the incident. Charges are still being finalized, the press release says.
“Canadians deserve reliable communications networks to stay connected, reach emergency services, and conduct their daily lives,” Marc Duchesne, Bell’s vice president of corporate security and responsibility, said in a statement. “We’re enhancing the security measures to our network — including the installation of aerial alarms — to better protect our critical infrastructure from vandals and hold them to account. We’re pleased that these enhancements are already having an impact and resulting in local arrests and we thank the law enforcement agencies that have partnered with us in making this a priority area of intervention.”
Bell says there have been nearly 1,000 physical security incidents on its network since January 2022. Copper theft continues to increase and is responsible for 87 per cent of such incidents, Bell claims. The most impacted regions are Ontario with 55 per cent of incidents, New Brunswick with 23 per cent and Quebec with 14 per cent. Each incident takes 10 to 12 hours on average to repair, according to Bell.
“While the addition of aerial alarms has been successful to date, more still needs to be done in order to prevent these crimes from happening and to enforce stronger repercussions,” Bell says in its release. “Bell is calling on provincial and federal governments to help communications providers improve the resiliency of Canada’s telecommunications networks. Enhancing security protocols is only part of the solution. It’s imperative that the government and law enforcement take decisive, timely action to strengthen laws, increase fines and make amendments to the Criminal Code, reflecting the essential nature of critical communications infrastructure on the security of this country.”
Bell has been raising the alarm about the impact of copper theft on its network over the past few months. This last September, two people were arrested in Kingston, Ont., for allegedly stealing Bell copper cables attached to telephone poles in the city.
Bell has also filed lawsuits against individuals in New Brunswick in June 2023 and in Ontario in April 2023, in both cases alleging theft of its copper cables had taken place.
The telco giant previously banded together with other large telecom companies to submit a report in March 2023 to Innovation Canada calling on the federal government to take more action against network infrastructure damage and theft.
Photo courtesy of Bell.
