Verizon customers reported service outages across Los Angeles County after vandalism of fiber optic cables, a spokesperson for the company said.
Starting Friday morning, Verizon customers reported cellular and internet interruptions in areas across the county, the spokesperson said. By the afternoon, the company concluded that “multiple fiber cuts due to acts of vandalism” were the main cause of the outages.
“These dangerous acts not only impact families, students and businesses, they are a direct threat to the safety and security of Angelenos,” the Verizon spokesperson said.
The company did not say how many customers were impacted or when the services would be restored.
Other companies and utilities have complained of similar acts by thieves, who seek out copper or scrap metal in exposed wiring. On Monday, Assemblyman Mark González, who represents District 54 and drafted a bill that would require a state license to resell copper wire and other recycling, said in a news conference on Monday that the city has gone “dark” since the rise of copper wire theft.
“Californians are tired of paying the price for that theft that steals more than copper,” Gonzalez said. “It steals safety, it steals connection, and it steals community.”
Fiber optic cables are made primarily of plastic and glass, which leads to fruitless vandalism, Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said during the conference.
“The copper metal, thieves thought some telecommunications wiring with fiber optic cable had copper in it,” Hochman said. “It doesn’t have copper, but they’re looking for it.”
