Sabotage Attacks Knock Out Phone Service (And Internet)

April 10th -
"Police are hunting for vandals who chopped fiber-optic cables and killed landlines, cell phones and Internet service for hundreds of thousands of people in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties [in the US state of California] on Thursday.

The sabotage essentially froze operations in parts of the three counties at hospitals, stores, banks and police and fire departments that rely on 911 calls, computerized medical records, ATMs and credit and debit cards.

The full extent of the havoc might not be known for days, emergency officials said as they finished repairing the damage late Thursday."
The article then provided that, "Ten fiber-optic cables were cut at four locations in the predawn darkness.

Residential and business customers quickly found that telephone service was perhaps more laced into their everyday needs than they thought. Suddenly they couldn't draw out money, send text messages, check e-mail or Web sites, call anyone for help, or even check on friends or relatives down the road.

Several people had to be driven to hospitals because they were unable to summon ambulances. Many businesses lapsed into idleness for hours, without the ability to contact associates or customers."

The article summarized the effects of the sabotage, stating "The first four fiber-optic cables were cut shortly before 1:30 a.m. in an underground vault along Monterey Highway north of Blossom Hill Road in south San Jose, police Sgt. Ronnie Lopez said. The cables belong to AT&T, and most of the service disruption came from this attack.

Four more underground cables, at least two of which belong to AT&T, were cut about two hours later at two locations near each other along Old County Road near Bing Street in San Carlos, authorities said. Two additional lines were sliced on Hayes Avenue in South San Jose.

In each case, the vandals had to pry up heavy manhole covers with a special tool, climb down a shaft and chop through heavy cables. Britton said the four cables cut in San Jose were about the width of a silver dollar and were encased in tough plastic sheath. One cable contained 360 fibers, and the other three had 48 fibers each.

A total of 500 fiber-optic strands were sliced, and each had to be painstakingly spliced back together, requiring hours of work."

Readers should also take note of the context of the actions, "The vandalism comes as AT&T is in talks with the Communications Workers of America for a contract covering more than 80,000 employees, who have been working under their old deal since it expired at 11:59 p.m. Saturday. Union members voted in late March to authorize a strike but have not scheduled one.

Candice Johnson, spokeswoman for the CWA, said union members were not involved in the incidents."

Note: Readers may wish to engage in dialogue or contemplation about how sabotage against electrical, telecommunications, and internet infrastructure(s) affects both the daily operations of governments and corporations as well as emergency services for working class people, especially within the context of social and environmental considerations.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, via www.anarchistnews.org