Hundreds of homes left without service after copper cable theft

UP to 100 families were left without phone or broadband service over the Christmas period after thieves stole a large amount of underground copper cable in Glenelly.

Alarms were first raised when, on Thursday, December 21, locals of the small rural community noticed that their phones had lost all signal.

BT engineers were dispatched to the hilly village of Cranagh the following day, where they found that crucial infrastructure had been tampered with.

“The wire had been cut,” explained local Sinn Féin Cllr Fergal Leonard, who was one of the first people to react to the crisis.

“The engineers assessed the work that had to be done and decided to call back the next day to carry it out.”

However, when the crew returned to conduct their repair work on Saturday, December 23, a substantial amount of cable had been removed.

“It seems like the thieves carried out their operation in two stages. First, they cut it. Then they must have waited before coming back and stealing it,” said the Derry and Strabane district councillor.

Problems with broadband and phone service persisted in the area until the following Wednesday, when the engineers finally remediated the issue.

After thanking local woman Joan McCaffrey, who is a Regional Officer with Local Government Civil Contingencies, for the part she played in organising an emergency multi-agency meeting that was instrumental in limiting the impact on families in the area, Cllr Leonard turned his attention to the perpetrators.

Disgusting

“It is disgusting, to be frank with you,” remarked Cllr Leonard. “The people who are doing this clearly have absolutely no consideration for the people who live in the area.

“This follows on from a similar disruption caused in early October when the BT Network in the area was severely damaged as a result of the theft of more than 3km of the underground cable.”

Cllr Leonard, who has been liaising with BT trying to get families reconnected, said, “Due to the criminal actions of those responsible, families in the area were left without phone or internet connections from December 22 with the last of the families affected only recently being reconnected.

“This attempted theft for self-gain caused great hardship, leaving families unable to contact loved ones over the festive period, unable to access online services and left vulnerable people at high risk.

“I want to pay a special word of thanks to BT Openreach engineers who have had to work throughout the holiday period to get local homes and local businesses reconnected.

“Given this underground copper cable BT Network has been now targeted for a second time in quick succession, it is imperative that the PSNI devote the necessary resources to investigate this criminal activity and to try and prevent any reoccurrence.”

Mr Leonard added, “Finally, BT Openreach have advised those affected to engage with the service provider to ensure any billing is adjusted for periods without service.”