On 14 March 2008 the major telecommunication companies of the North West Federal District - including OJSC North West Telecom, the North West Branch of OJSC Rostelecom, the North West Branch of OJSC Megafon, MK North West Branch of OJSC MTS, the St Petersburg Branch of OJSC SCS Sovintel, CJSC PeterStar, and CJSC Severen-Telecom - approached the St Petersburg Administration with a request to assist them with the problem of non-ferrous metal theft, which results in very frequent damage to the lines and other telecommunication facilities.

The letter to the Government notes that offences of this kind are increasingly more frequent at the line cable facilities (belonging either to landline operators, mobile network operators, or Internet providers) that contain non-ferrous metals. Offenders often target the fibre optic telecommunication lines, which are in fact completely worthless for the criminals.

The reasons why the city's telecommunication networks are damaged so often due to cable theft are totally clear: the unlocked basements and attics in residential buildings, the unregulated activity of non-ferrous metal collection points, and the disregard by law-enforcement authorities caused by the scale and frequency of this type of offence. The consequences involve both the personal security of the city's inhabitants and the functioning of its enterprises and institutions. Tens of thousands of people in St Petersburg are deprived of the opportunity to communicate with the outside world or even to call an essential service: emergency medical aid, firefighters, police, etc. Communication break may result in compromising of the security systems in people's homes and company offices, cause malfunction of fire alarms, restrict the access to the Internet and other data transfer networks.

The scale and social impact of the problem united the telecommunication operators who provide widely different telecommunication services and often compete with each other. Each of the operators makes its best to protect its facilities, reduce the damage and restore the normal service for its customers. The appeal to the city authorities is another necessary and very important step on the way to solving this problem.

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From 5 March 2008 in St Petersburg North West Telecom launches its public awareness programme "Protect your home! Don't let them steal your phone line!" in order to enlist the help of the city's population in combatting cable theft - starting with people's own district, building, staircase. An easy to remember phone number 577-11-11 has been allocated for these purposes, so that people could call when they find an unlocked basement or attic where they think there could be a telephone cable, or call when they see someone they suspect of stealing cable (for subscribers of the St Petersburg Branch of OJSC North West Telecom , calls to this number are free).

The website of the St Petersburg Branch of OJSC North West Telecom now features a page devoted to this subject ( Combatting cable theft ) where you can find the full text of the appeal to the St Petersburg Administration, read published materials on the topic, leave a cable theft alert, send in a photo made at the scene of crime, etc.