// Home / News / Broadband

BT battles broadband cable thieves

1 of 2

Gallery

By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 26 Jul 2010 at 10:29

BT will coat its equipment in high-tech, traceable liquid to prevent the theft of copper cables.

BT has seen a 9% increase in stolen copper over the past year, costing the firm millions of pounds and cutting off broadband connections. A robbery in Kent in April saw criminals make off with 3km of cable, cutting off broadband to 2,000 people.

SmartWater is like invisible paint with a fingerprint

To catch and deter criminals, the firm is turning to the SmartWater system, which a BT spokesman described as "like invisible paint with a fingerprint". Visible only under a special ultraviolet light, SmartWater features a chemical code combination that's unique for each location.

BT's engineering arm Openreach will coat its equipment and cables in the liquid, so it can be traced back to its home if stolen. Some high-risk locations will also spray SmartWater directly onto criminals, invisibly tagging their skin for up to 60 days.

“Anyone arrested for metal theft will be examined for traces of SmartWater," said Detective Inspector Robin Conway from British Transport Police, which is working with BT on the project. "A search will be made of the person’s house and any property, including vehicles with traces of SmartWater on them, is likely to be seized by police."

"Scrap metal dealers will also be visited regularly to ensure they are assisting British Transport Police in identifying criminals attempting to sell stolen metal,” he added.

The system has already been trialled in North London with some success, said BT. SmartWater is also used by Network Rail to prevent criminals from pilfering its cables.

Aside from the high-tech solution, Openreach will also add more patrols, improve locks, and work more with police on sting operations, BT said.

Subscribe to PC Pro magazine. We'll give you 3 issues for £1 plus a free gift - click here

From around the web

User comments

Solution? Put in fibre optic!

Smartwater won't help if the copper is melted down. The "smart" bit gets melted with the copper.

By cheysuli on 26 Jul 2010

Until scrap merchants stop accepting copper & lead from anyone who wanders in then it doesn't matter what it's coated in.

By drummerbod on 26 Jul 2010

Shouldn't BT be thinking by now?

"Hmmm, our customers are all complaining that they want fibre optic cable connections. And criminals are beginning to nick all our copper cable because it's worth a fortune. What to do, I wonder?"
.
Maybe BT should sell their vast stock of copper cable and use the profit to fund the installation of fibre optic cables. Too obvious?
.
No, instead, they spend even more money on security operations that might not be necessary.

By phantombudgie on 26 Jul 2010

Completely agree with Phantombudgie. Copper is $7 per kilo and once fibre is in place to an exchange the existing copper is superfluous, so why not have it sold off to part fund the fibre? Costs vary depending on existing infrastructure, but where ducts or poles exist the cost of replacing copper with fibre should be comparable to the recovery cost of selling the copper.

By skarlock on 26 Jul 2010

Think about it

Do you really think it's as simple as replacing copper wires with fibre? Putting optical equipment in exchanges would cost a lot, and far outweighs the difference in copper vs fibre optic cables.

By Stiggy on 27 Jul 2010

Fibre

Change to fibre is still better than having to replace the copper over and over again. Cost of replacing the copper (maybe multiple times) and adding new security compared with replacing it with fibre (which is what they would need to do in the future anyway) which one would you choose?

By wlman on 27 Jul 2010

@Stiggy: they're going to have to do the change at some point soon (in theory, assuming they want to compete). It may not be as simple as a straight swap, but the copper should go a fair distance to reducing the high cost of the change over.

By phantombudgie on 27 Jul 2010

Leave a comment

You need to Login or Register to comment.