Cable thefts bring more harm to the country as they cause disruptions to the network resulting in hours of connectivity loss to businesses and consumers, Unified National Networks Sdn Bhd (UNN) Vice President of Service Delivery, Field, Rollout and Power (SDFRP) Dayangku Hajah Martini binti Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahman said.
She made these comments during a briefing on nationwide awareness on cable theft.
Dayangku Hajah Martini added that the copper and fibre cables rolled out by UNN to build the telecommunication network infrastructure have no actual resell value and would not bring monetary gains.
She also highlighted on losses resulting from cable theft cases, how these cases impact UNN technicians deployed to sites affected regardless of time when a cable cut is detected, and the hours technicians spend in the field to speed up repair works to minimise the loss of connectivity experienced by consumers.
Meanwhile, UNN Corporate Communications and PR analyst Safuan Shah Bidin highlighted how cable thefts can affect the socio-economic activities and safety of the public and organisations while underlining how communities can play a role in safeguarding the nation’s telecommunication infrastructure.
The UNN, Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) in collaboration with the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) have developed a community engagement programme raise nationwide awareness on cable theft and to brief community leaders.
The cable theft awareness programme began in the Brunei-Muara District on December 13, 2022, followed by Belait District on June 13, 2023, Temburong District on November 8, 2023 and ended in Tutong District on February 5.
The briefing featured a presentation of authorised UNN uniformed personnel to keep the audience informed on identifying UNN technicians and contractors working on-site, so they can verify that the activities carried out around their districts are not malicious or suspicious.
At the briefing, the audience was also briefed on the current progress of the UNN fibre rollout programme and a showcase of several types of cables so that they are aware of the complexity of repairing cables that were tampered, cut, or stolen and why reparation works could take a minimum of eight hours to complete.
RBPF also took part in the briefing with insights to the current laws governing the national assets and highlighted the penalties that perpetrators would face if these laws were broken. – James Kon
