Cable protection

Investing millions in a three-pronged crackdown on metal theft

1. Prevention

We've invested a total of £2.5million in better protection and research to make it harder for thieves and vandals to attack our network. 

Of this, £1million has been invested in a security upgrade of our cable stores, with a further £1.5million being spent to improve network security. This has included the extension of CCTV coverage throughout all Openreach and BT buildings, along with alarmed gates and secured cabinets. 

2. Engagement and intelligence

We've also invested heavily in research to understand exactly what we are up against and how we can combat it most effectively.  

Through working closely with the police, we have developed proactive, intelligence-led operations that mean we are able to crack down on organised gangs and secure the parts of our network most likely to be targeted for attack.

We have established a Metal Theft Task Force, which includes 40 dedicated Openreach staff and four investigators from BT Group Security Investigations. The team helped secure over 450 arrests in 2011/12, compared to 220 for the whole of 2010.

We've also been raising the profile of this problem in the media to increase awareness among other agencies and the general public. After all, we're not the only industry that finds itself targeted by metal thieves. As a result, we've developed a more collaborative partnership with the British Transport Police, Network Rail and the energy sectors. 

3. Reducing the market for stolen goods

Openreach cable across the UK is now forensically marked with SmartWater, an invisible solution that is virtually impossible to remove and can be forensically traced to the individual street of origin.

This has made it harder for criminals to sell-on stolen metal, and helped us recover a considerable amount of Openreach property. Many scrap metal dealers now have SmartWater detectors, and will not accept any goods marked with this solution. To find out more about SmartWater, click here.

We've also run campaigns across the country to let the public know that when our network goes down, it may be as result of criminal activity rather than a fault.

Having teamed up with Crimestoppers in April 2011, we've worked to raise public awareness, increase vigilance and encourage people to provide information to help protect the network. For more information on our work with Crimestoppers, click here.  

Flyers

We've also produced flyers which we distribute in known targetted areas in order to raise awareness and to ask members of the public to be vigilant.