Telecommunication companies are ramping up initiatives that will secure their infrastructure against theft and vandalism.
PLDT Inc. wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.
along with other members of the National Telecommunications Security Council (NTSC), has joined forces with the Philippine National Police (PNP) to address various issues raised by NTSC members, particularly the rampant theft of telco equipment, such as copper wires and batteries, which are later sold to junk shops, thereby causing millions in losses to telcos.
The NTSC is an industry-wide alliance of corporate security professionals from the country’s major telcos for the mutual protection of telecoms infrastructure nationwide. It was organized by the PLDT Asset Protection and Security Risk Governance team in June 2021.
Separately, Globe Telecom Inc. said it is partnering with law enforcement agencies and local government units and also allocated P1.4 million to reimburse subscribers affected by outages caused by the illegal acts.
PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda hailed NTSC’s plan to organize regional telco security forums in the various regional police offices and promised the PNP’s help in facilitating easy coordination at the regional and provincial level.
The NTSC national officers are composed of representatives from PLDT, Dito Telecommunity Corp., Converge ICT Solutions Inc., Sky Cable Corp. and Globe.
Meanwhile, Raymond Policarpio, Globe At Home Broadband Business vice president, said the company in the first five months of the year recorded 746 incidents of cable theft, affecting at least 1,600 customers who experienced connectivity issues due to the deliberate cable cuts.
The cases declined from the same five-month period last year at 1,876, and a full-year total of 3,598. But Globe said this is due to the reduction in existing copper cable lines as part of its transition to fiber and the bundling of cables that makes it more difficult to cut.
Copper is the type of cable often stolen and sold to junk shops at around P470 per kilo.
