In recent months, there has been a significant increase in common crime and organized gangs dedicated to copper trafficking in Bogotacausing cuts and damage to cables and infrastructure.
According to the authorities, the interest in this material is due to the increase in its price in the market, since According to figures from the Dian, between 2020 and 2023, Colombia increased the value of copper exports by 65% without being a producing country..
(Further: ‘La Piscinita’, the new migration route that is being exploited on the island of San Andrés).
Although the criminals’ objective is to steal copper, when they steal it they cut fiber optic cables that affect the connectivity of businesses and homes in the country’s capital. Likewise, The works being carried out in various parts of the city have a significant impact on the infrastructure, exposing it to theft and vandalism..
In the face of this, the Bogotá Telecommunications Company (ETB) announced a series of measures to address this scourge, which, in 2023, saw more than 400 kilometres of public cabling hacked by criminal gangs.
ETB
What is happening now…
Although the company has made progress in efforts to substantially reduce this problem, The increase in theft incidents in the first quarter of the year is 140%.
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Thus, Alex Blanco, president of the telecommunications companyreaffirmed its commitment to ensuring user connectivity.
“ETB is working on a common front to stop criminals and provide a quick response to affected customers. Together with authorities and the District, we are joining forces to minimize the effects of this problem and prevent users from losing their connection. This is a challenge for the sector that, like all others, we will overcome with effort and joint work to achieve a Connected and Safe Bogotá, which is the strategy we are launching.“, he claimed.
Bogota
Fronts of action of the strategy
1. Reaction for connectivity: ETB created a reaction front to minimize the impact on the service to its customers, and thus implemented strategies such as a migration plan from copper to fiber optics. Currently, The company already has 80% of its customers browsing on this technology.
Similarly, according to company figures, The operational capacity was multiplied by five with the aim of providing timely attention to failures.
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They also mention a number of new tactics for infrastructure protection, with the implementation of an electronic security system for the covers that close the telephone cameraswhich requires key, location and user validation.
Theft of copper cables
Currently, there are 14,000 caps equipped with this system. “As a complement, these elements are being welded to make vandalism more difficult and cables and covers are being marked to indicate that it is a copper-free fiber optic network.“, says ETB.
2. Investment front: According to the company, the effort to keep the city connected has required a Budget adjustment of around $63 billionin addition to $21 billion pesos of investment for the deployment of fiber to 125,000 homes and $20 billion for the replacement of copper with fiber optics.
3. Security and legal front: ETB explains that a front has been created that works together with the authorities to implement more actions to reduce the impacts.
“We thank all our customers for their continued support, especially in times where vandalism remains a constant challenge. Their trust drives us to work closely with the relevant authorities and entities to achieve a Connected and Safe Bogotá. Together – citizens, businesses, authorities and government – we can ensure that the Capital continues to move towards a safer and more connected future.“, said Alex Blanco, president of ETB.
ETB also invited citizens who see suspicious people manipulating or cutting the cables of the telecommunications infrastructure to report these acts of vandalism through the emergency line 123.
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