RSSVerizon: WV Cable Thefts a Public Safety Threat
by Ed Oswald
While cable thefts and vandalism are a problem for telecommunications companies nationwide, Verizon said Tuesday the problem is especially bad in West Virginia, where over 17,000 customers have experienced service interruptions as a result of the issue.
Across the state, 45 occurrences of either vandalism or theft have occurred. In one recent case, a 20-foot section of cable was stolen and caused both fire and police departments to lose telephone service, posing a threat to public safety.
"These thefts are just incomprehensible in that they put people's lives in danger and cost thousands of dollars to repair," Verizon president H. Stan Cavendish said.
A majority of the incidents have occurred in the southern part of the state, including Boone, Logan and Kanawha Counties. However, Verizon said it had experienced issues of theft in both Washington state and California as well.
"They have been infrequent in most states, but for some reason in West Virginia, the incidents have been occurring more frequently over the last several years," Verizon spokesperson Lee Gierczynski told BetaNews.
In 2006 alone, 26,000 feet of cable was stolen, costing the company $240,000 in repairs. In one case, a theft even delayed a planned service upgrade in the town of Barboursville as the cable was stolen the day before it was to be installed.
One possible solution may be new regulation surrounding salvage yards and recyclers. If proposed legislation now in the West Virginia legislature passes, more information would be required from scrap sellers, and police would gain the right to confiscate metal if they believe it had been stolen.
In the meantime, Verizon has asked those with information to contact the company or the authorities.
24 Comments
I agree, it's for the money.
But that said, it's probably terrorists looking
for enough hard-to trace-to-'em wire to build an
EMP weapon. ;)
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This wire theft of this sort is typical in third world countries and second world countries too. Anywhere there is poverty and telephone service wire will be stolen. It's a big problem in India. Its why cell phones are so popular.
What they should do is leave out spools of cable and setup a sting. Doesn't have to be too complex, just a few cameras and some police hidden somewhere.
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they have cable in W-Va?
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I wonder if that made SQAR.
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Now I don't condone theft in any way, but I live in West Virginia, and we've had cases where Verizon's infrastructure was so poorly maintained that public safey and other entities experienced telecommunications service interruptions for days... WV is a small market with mountainous terrain and other infrastructure challenges, but for Verison to single out WV for this story is corporate hypocrisy... I see no disclosure in this article of how much they pay their lobbyists, aksing government to create another level of beauracracy to protect their corporate interests, or what they're doing to improve or extend basic services to rural areas... How many areas in WV have DSL, fiber optics, or even reliable cellular service ? Verizon doesn't even sell wireless in WV... perhaps when land-lines become obsolete (not too far off), they'll fade away...
It's all in the money... and Verizon, like so many others looks at the bang for the buck before anything else... small market... 3rd class service... big market... everything we can throw at you... at a price of course...
To Verizon I say... he who is without sin cast the first stone !
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Another manifestation of the prolific inbreeding...
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well at least when they catch the theifs they will not be sent to the Russian Gulag !
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This is more a statement on how poor the Bush economy is and how far the repubs ran it into the ground for six years that people across the country risk life and limb just to steal copper. Oy. Maybe if that war money had been spent saving a few manufacturing jobs that conservatives love to send overseas for their golden parachutes and tax breaks this wouldn't be a problem.
Too bad for Verizon, but I'm sure their customers are willing to pay more for the service — ha!
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What a profound statement. Now that I think of it, under the booming Clinton economy, there were absolutely no thefts nationwide.
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ROFLMFAO! yea that must be it, people steal cable because Bush ruined the economy. I don't know about your golden parachutes but that sure is comedy gold.
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OMG. You had to dig deep to attribute cable theft to be Bush's fault.
Just admit it--you hate Bush first, then assume all else already knowing he can do no good. In that frame of mind, I'd be forced to move out of America--no joke. If all he really does is lie, then our country really is in danger. However, even I have brains enough to know that Bumbling Bush is not necessarily the most intelligent President we've ever had (as far as IQ), and to think that the majority of Americans are fooled by someone so incredibly genius and kiniving that he fakes his true intelligence--nope, either 60% of America are stupid or perhaps we are overcomplicating the simple fact that he really did think there were WMD in Iraq.
First of all, the economy cycles like a sine wave. This is NORMAL, and not Clinton's or Bush's doing. Next, most major economic trends result years after the initial cause, as was proven in 1929. If anything, Clinton's policies had more to do with the economy today than Bush's policies--but even I cannot blame Clinton here. Obviously 9-11-01 changed the economy much more rapidly than before, but the reason the economy--or at least YOUR interpretation of the declining economy--is starting to lower is because between the prices at the pump and the 2005 Hurricane season, the average middle class working citizen is having much more difficulty making ends-meet.
Now, argue all you want, but we will never agree on this because you have your belief system set one way and 'when you assume x, then y...'--well, y can only be so many things if x is known. Try starting fresh, e.g., try to determine y pretending that you do not really know x is set, and perhaps one day you may find yourself changing your mind for the first time in years.
Yes, I have changed my views on this. I once believed the numbers out there that tell us the economy is strong today and getting better, but I recently have noticed the beginning signs of imminent doom. However, the only logical reason for this to be happening is due more to natural disasters than it has to do with Bush.
Think what you want though--I'm just another radical whacko neo-conservative anyway...
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(Remarkably well thought out comment, bourgeois. I agree 100%.) As a WV resident, I too am extremely frustrated with Verizon's heavy-handed tactics to maintain their monopoly in this area, while at the same time showing little interest in upgrading services. If they don't want to provide modern telecom in WV then they should stop stonewalling anyone else who wants to try. Having said all that, I don't condone the cable thefts in any way whatsoever. The fact that Boone, Logan and southern Kanawha counties are among the hardest-hit areas of the dying coal industry is no excuse. And, seeing how these counties are all adjacent to each other and linked by a 4-lane corridor, perhaps they should be focusing on the possibility that this is a single organized group of criminals at work. Or maybe their just relocating some cable to fill in the 'last mile'. Heh heh..
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I'll jump on the band wagon here and call you a total idiot. I don't usually resort to name calling on here, but as others stated, blameing theft of cable (not to be confused with cable ;-) on Bush is just reaching a little bit. People have been stealing copper cable to recycle for years. Not a month goes by that I don't read about some Darwin Award winner wannabe electrocuting himself by stealing copper from high voltage lines. And the current high price of copper just makes it worse. I've always wondered about how the recycle plants can accept it, when it must be obvious where some it comes from. It's a good idea for the salvage yards to have to check, to bad it has to come with Big Brother and more regulation.
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Where is Larry the 'Cable Guy' from?
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Verizon should go easy on them. They are, of course, just trying to get by with meager salaries not even near what Microsoft employees make.
Maybe we need global outcry in West Virginia.
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If someone steals $240,000.00 from you, should you go easy on them? give them free stuff? no, they are not stealing cable service, they are stealing the cable itself.
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ref: Gorbachev.
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how about incentives ??
free service to those reporting vandalism acts
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Verizon give something away for free? LMAO!
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maybe you just turn them in before you have to call 911 and can't.
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lol, yeah, verizon isnt quite known for its "generosity"
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Thank you for that. It is encouraging that there are those of us that still use sound logic in the illogical world we live in today...
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don't forget to tip your waitress.
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Great, so you'd vandalise your own line in order to receive it for free. Not a very good idea now is it?
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