Philippines telco Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) has highlighted its crackdown on cable thieves in the country, with more than 2,400 thieves arrested over the last three years.

PLDT, along with the Philippine National Police, barangay authorities, and local communities have worked together to clamp down on the thefts, which cause downtime for the telco's mobile network.

In total, the collective crackdown has led to the arrest of 2,487 cable thieves over the last three years, including close to 1,000 in 2024.

"Not a lot of people know this, but at PLDT, we spend a lot of man hours to secure our network," says Butch Jimenez, chief operating officer and network head at PLDT.

"This is a big win for our security team—and we extend our gratitude to the PNP, and to our partners in the barangays and communities who have helped us catch these suspects."

The carrier said that network equipment theft and vandalism are key reasons for Internet downtime in the country.

Thieves typically target copper cables, power cables, and batteries.

"We at PLDT remain vigilant. We're still implementing stronger physical security controls, surveillance measures, and rapid response strategies to make sure our customers stay connected. I'm proud of our teamwork, preparedness, and proactive security mindset—but we intend to do even better this year," added Wilfredo F. Gonio, head of security central command and administration center at PLDT.

The issue surrounding the theft of network infrastructure is a global one, often due to the high cost of copper.

In South Africa, mobile network operators have also paired with the authorities to clamp down on the issue.

Last January, Telkom, along with South African Police Services (SAPS), revealed that more than 3,000 people have been arrested for such crimes, adding that the partnership has resulted in less theft at their sites.

Rival telco MTN Group paired with the Gauteng Provincial Community Police Board in March to clamp down on network infrastructure theft and vandalism.

Acknowledging its own issue with these crimes, Vodacom said it has increased security at its base station sites, through the installation of CCTV cameras.