Cell tower battery theft scourge continues despite some progress

MTN South Africa said on Tuesday that it’s some making progress in fighting the scourge of cellphone tower battery theft.

The crime epidemic, which is making it more difficult for mobile operators to keep their base stations operational during load shedding, has worsened in the past year, with syndicates targeting mobile operators’ high sites for their valuable batteries.

“MTN’s effort in increasing security measures and introducing hi-tech solutions and on-the-ground strategies to prevent battery theft and vandalism at cell tower base stations is starting to see success with as many as 143 batteries, worth R1.2-million, recovered in January 2020,” the company said.

A total of 338 batteries worth R4-million stolen from MTN base stations were recovered in July last year, with 275 batteries worth almost R3-million recovered in September. “The number of arrests also ticked up appreciably to an annual high of 22 in September.”

Three suspects were apprehended in October last year in a joint operation between Bidvest Protea Coin and the police. Eight MTN lithium-ion batteries and eight Telkom lead-acid batteries were recovered, and sentences of between five and 10 years in jail were handed down by a magistrate on 28 January.

However, battery theft incidents have continued to rise. More than 700 batteries were stolen from MTN base stations in January 2020 from 122 incidents. Cable theft also increased over December and January, with 109 incidents in January.

Load shedding

“The reality is criminal syndicates are looking for ways around the security measures…,” said MTN GM for network operations Ernest Paul.

“A lot more work needs to be done to stay a step ahead, especially as vandalism at base stations can keep many consumers offline for long periods, or even completely destroy the base station, leaving people with no access at all.”

New rounds of load shedding are increasing the risks, with networks placed under increased strain to get power back up, Paul said. “The battery backup system generally takes 12-18 hours to recharge, while batteries generally have a capacity of six to 12 hours, depending on the site category.”  — © 2020 NewsCentral Media