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\n Screenshot, Ars Technica, Downdetector<\/p>\n
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Screenshot, Ars Technica, Downdetector<\/p>\n
Over the past two decades, copper theft has emerged as a major problem in industries spanning plumbing, telephone and Internet connectivity, and others relying on the material, which is a good conductor of electricity and once sold at low prices. In 2008, the FBI warned that copper theft threatened the entire US infrastructure<\/a>. In earlier decades, copper was widely used, in part because of its relatively low price. As copper prices rose, thieves began stealing it. The abundance of the metal in remote and unsurveilled environments scattered all around the country made it a tempting target for thieves.<\/p>\n In 2015, AT&T reported that the cutting of a 1,200-foot run of fiber line disrupted<\/a> service, requiring 192 lines to be re-fused. AT&T didn’t say whether the people responsible simply wanted to disrupt AT&T services or if they mistakenly believed there was copper in the infrastructure they damaged.<\/p>\n