Mr. Marc Duchesne reports

BELL INSTALLS AERIAL ALARMS ON ITS NETWORK TO HELP FIGHT COPPER THEFT, RESULTING IN LOCAL ARRESTS

BCE Inc.'s Bell has made security enhancements to its network, including the installation of aerial alarms, to enhance reliability for its customers and protect critical communications infrastructure from vandalism, primarily in the form of copper theft.

Earlier this year, Bell started installing aerial alarms across its network, with plans to expand deployment to more locations. The alarms are designed to alert local law enforcement as soon as an incident is detected so they can respond quickly, ideally catching vandals in the act, enabling law enforcement to charge the perpetrators with harsher penalties.

On Feb. 26, 2024, an aerial alarm in Fredericton, N.B., successfully notified the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police of a cable cut. They quickly dispatched and arrested two suspects at the time of the incident -- charges are still being finalized.

"Canadians deserve reliable communications networks to stay connected, reach emergency services and conduct their daily lives. We're enhancing the security measures to our network -- including the installation of aerial alarms -- to better protect our critical infrastructure from vandals and hold them to account. We're pleased that these enhancements are already having an impact and resulting in local arrests, and we thank the law enforcement agencies that have partnered with us in making this a priority area of intervention," said Marc Duchesne, vice-president of corporate security and responsibility, Bell.

With nearly 1,000 physical security incidents to Bell's network since January, 2022, copper theft continues to increase and is responsible for 87 per cent of physical security incidents on Bell's network. The most impacted regions include Ontario with 55 per cent of incidents, New Brunswick with 23 per cent and Quebec with 14 per cent. Each incident takes on average 10 to 12 hours to repair, and during this time customers may not have access to Internet, television and home phone, and impacts their ability to reach emergency services.

While the addition of aerial alarms has been successful to date, more still needs to be done in order to prevent these crimes from happening and to enforce stronger repercussions. Bell is calling on provincial and federal governments to help communications providers improve the resiliency of Canada's telecommunications networks. Enhancing security protocols is only part of the solution. It is imperative that the government and law enforcement take decisive, timely action to strengthen laws, increase fines and make amendments to the Criminal Code, reflecting the essential nature of critical communications infrastructure on the security of this country.