Communications Alliance CEO Luke Coleman was interviewed by ABC Radio Adelaide about copper theft and vandalism of telecoms infrastructure

1 April 2025: Transcript: ABC Radio Adelaide Drive with Nikolai Beilharz with Communications Alliance CEO Luke Coleman re: copper theft and telecommunications vandalism
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/adelaide-drive/drive/105111706

Nikolai Beilharz, Host (00:00):
What can be done about it? Luke Coleman is Chief Executive Officer of the Communications Alliance and is with us this afternoon. Luke, thank you for your time.

Luke Coleman, Communications Alliance CEO (00:07):
Good to be here with you.

Nikolai Beilharz, Host (00:09):
As we're hearing, it seems like in some parts of Adelaide, and I'm sure it's exclusive to Adelaide, this is happening more and more.

Luke Coleman, Communications Alliance CEO (00:16):
It is a real serious issue. Now, we've just heard from people who've been inconvenienced by it because maybe their phone's out, maybe their Internet's out, whether it's for a day or a week. That really impacts people who are working from home, who are just trying to conduct their everyday lives. But it's much more serious than that. When these services go down, it can literally mean the difference between life or death. If you are caught in a situation where you are unable to call triple zero, if you have a family member who's had an accident and you need to get onto an ambulance, this is a serious crime. This is much more serious than just the simple act of vandalism with stealing copper. Even think about the connectivity that goes to our hospitals, to our police stations, to our fire stations. If somebody is in a telecommunications facility such as a pit by the side of the road thinking that they might opportunistically just get some copper that they can then go and sell on the black market, that could be knocking hospitals offline. That could be removing the ability for doctors to get vital information about their patients. This is a real serious crime and we need to treat it as such.

Nikolai Beilharz, Host (01:27):
Is it the case that some people potentially, there's people that are committing the vandalism, are cutting the cables open just to see what they are? I wouldn't have thought there would've been a whole lot of copper in optic cables, or I might be wrong.

Luke Coleman, Communications Alliance CEO (01:40):
Look, that's a really good point, and that's one of the real concerns here, that it may well be the case that these thieves are looking for copper because it can be valuable to resell on the black market. But as you rightly note, a lot of telecommunications networks today aren't using copper like they used to. It's now fibre optic cables that carry the overwhelming majority of data on our telecommunications networks, but these crooks simply don't care. They are getting in there to try to steal copper, and if they break a few fibre cables on the way, they're not being punished harshly enough for the impact that that has on hundreds of thousands of Australians and businesses as well.

Nikolai Beilharz, Host (02:21):
So what can be done to try and prevent it? I mean, the pits where a lot of these cables are a kind of run through, can they be made more secure? Is it as simple as putting a lock on it or I'm guessing if it was that simple, it would've been done?

Luke Coleman, Communications Alliance CEO (02:35):
Look, it is certainly the case that telcos are trying to step up their efforts to prevent these kinds of things happening in the first place. Now, that might be a combination of installing CCTV cameras or webcams so that they can actively monitor the locations of key telecommunications equipment. They're implementing security patrols, boots on the ground that are out, making sure that people aren't meddling with this infrastructure or even using monitoring services that provide real time assessments about locations of cable damage using the cable equipment themselves. So there's a variety of measures that telcos are actively putting in place to try to prevent this from occurring. But there's another side to it, which is real active law enforcement to ensure that we crack down on these crooks. Now, one of the problems that we face with copper theft is that offences can vary in each jurisdiction, and sometimes what we find is that the thieves who conduct these crimes, they might just get a slap on the wrist.
(03:36):

It's treated as simply someone who's trying to steal a bit of copper. But as we know, the repercussions of these crimes are far, far greater than that. If they look like they're just trying to steal some copper, but they cut a main fibre cable that takes off a hospital. What if somebody dies during that? What if a business loses millions of dollars worth of transactions because they're offline? All of the precautions that telcos can put in place need to be complimented by a coordinated response across state and federal governments to crack down on this sabotage and treat it like the serious crime that it is.

Nikolai Beilharz, Host (04:11):
And so how could that response take place? Are you saying actually potentially putting in place stronger penalties or changing legislation there, or an effort to try and increase police priorities towards things like this? Because obviously, I mean, here in South Australia, we hear so much about how the police system is stretched, and I can't imagine saying we need you to check for people stealing copper would be at the top of the list.

Luke Coleman, Communications Alliance CEO (04:38):
Well, I certainly think it's a combination of those factors. We need to have consistent laws across the country that treat this as the serious crime that it really is, and we need to make sure that when these crooks are caught, it's not just treated as another simple fe theft. This is not robbing a handbag. This is causing millions of dollars worth of economic damage. And as I've said, it could also be a life or death situation. When you cut a critical telecommunications backbone line, you could be taking a hospital offline, you could be taking police stations offline. It needs to be treated with the seriousness that it deserves. Telecommunications infrastructure is not just about watching cat videos on YouTube. The Australian economy absolutely depends on it, and we need to treat deliberate damage to this infrastructure as much more than a simple act of vandalism. This is not like doing graffiti. This is not damaging a park bench. This is a serious crime that can cost people's lives and can cause massive damage to the economy more broadly.

Nikolai Beilharz, Host (05:45):
Luke Coleman, thank you for your time this afternoon.
Luke Coleman, Communications Alliance CEO (05:48):
Thanks so much for having me.