Vodacom EC ramps up fight against theft from base stations
Vodacom has thousands of base stations in the Eastern Cape, many of which are in isolated rural areas. These base stations are increasingly being targeted for theft and vandalism, which can leave entire communities without communication and causes millions of rands worth of damage. Vodacom has ramped up the fight against this criminal activity, implementing new measures to make sure that the thieves are caught and prosecuted.
Cellular base stations are the only form of connectivity available to many communities, and when criminals target these base stations to steal diesel, batteries and copper, they can cut off hundreds if not thousands of people. Commenting on this, Carol Hall, Managing Executive for Vodacom’s Eastern Region said:
“We’re seeing millions of rands worth of damage to our base stations annually which ultimately impacts the cost of mobile services. But more importantly than the monetary impact, criminals are cutting off entire communities. We repeatedly see situations where people can’t make emergency calls and are put in danger by these criminals.
Each theft incident can result in the network in that area being down for days, and can severely impact businesses as well as anyone relying on the internet to study. It can also cause ecological damage with vandalism resulting in diesel spillage. Vodacom, however, is fighting back. Hall said:
“Vodacom is piloting a programme that uses hidden tracking technology and other security measures to trace batteries and other equipment. Our security team is using helicopters and specialist mobile units to track the stolen items so that we can catch and prosecute the thieves as well as anyone knowingly buying stolen equipment.
“Having said that, the number one line of defence is the local community. We’ve dyed the diesel in our base stations blue to help people identify and report stolen diesel. We urge anyone who sees this diesel for sale or sees suspicious activity around our base stations to report it to the police or to give us a call on 041 396 3095. It’s in everyone’s best interest to act before their signal is cut off.”
Vodacom has been working closely with the law-enforcement authorities and the renewed security programme has already resulted in a significant number of arrests.
“The clear message that we want to send to criminals is that if you target our base stations, you will be caught and you will be prosecuted” concludes Hall.