Cable thieves hitting cities now

Telekom taking new anti-theft measures and roping in cops to curb losses

KUALA LUMPUR: Telecommunication cable thieves are now going to the cities due to the high concentration of cables at these places.

Telekom Malaysia (TM), which has been affected by the losses, has embarked on new anti-theft measures, including a system which can pinpoint where the thefts are occurring in real time.

TM group CEO Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said the company had also increased cooperation with the police, which has helped reduce cable thefts.

He added that while efforts had helped to reduce thefts, an increasing number of cases were now occurring at highly populated areas such as Kuala Lumpur and Cyberjaya.

“Previously, thieves usually struck in rural areas where there are not so many cables.

“They are now moving to the bigger cities, where there is a higher concentration of cables.

“The matter has reached a serious stage where thieves even break locks on manhole covers to get at underground cables,” he told reporters after launching an appreciation ceremony for the police.

Among those who attended were Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and senior police officials.

Zamzamzairani said TM statistics revealed that 71 cable theft cases were reported in Cyberjaya and 58 here from January to August.

“Last year, 52 cases were recorded in Cyberjaya and 30 cases were reported in Kuala Lumpur,” he added.

He said three states which recorded the highest reduction in cases were Perak – from 2,087 cases last year to 1,124 until August, Johor – from 1,423 cases last year to 745 cases in the same period this year – and Selangor, which recorded 1,841 cases last year with 1,439 cases reported so far this year.