In a recently published Guyana Chronicle article titled “BILLIONS LOST –vandalism, illegal international bypass continue to bleed GTT“ by Ariana Gordon, the Guyana Telephone Telegraph Company (GTT) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Justin Nedd said that “VANDALISM and illegal international bypass remain the two most critical issues affecting the Guyana Telephone Telegraph Company (GTT). The company spends more than USD $150,000 on materials and labor every year as a result of vandalism.”
There is technology available that provides continuous monitoring of live systems using “Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry”. This technology and the corresponding data analysis can be used to identify potential high risk areas. Identification of the high risk areas would allow collaboration with local law enforcement to patrol and monitor those locations, which could significantly reduce the incidences of vandalism.
Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry” creates unrivaled functional awareness of the electrical characteristics of utility and telecom systems by immediately detecting, locating and reporting faults and cable thefts.
A public advisory campaign advising of full scale monitoring of infrastructure along with strengthening of the laws governing wilful damage (sabotage) to public infrastructure would go a long way in deterring potential criminal acts. The campaign could include also include a component making people aware that the costs of vandalism are not borne just by GTT but by customers who must pay more to account for the increasing costs of the vandalism.
Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry technology can be sourced by LiveWire Innovation (http://livewireinnovation.com/cabletheft).