Analysis: Copper Theft’s True Toll Understated in Telecom Infrastructure Reports

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2025 — Attacks on the nation’s communications networks have escalated, and new industry data understates the true scope of the damage, according to one analysis

More than 15,000 incidents were recorded between June 2024 and June 2025, disrupting service for about 9.5 million Americans. Copper theft and sabotage were the leading causes, with California and Texas accounting for more than half of all recorded cases.

Economist Edward Lopez estimated the outages cost society $38 million to $188 million in six months. “These incidents don’t just cut cables,” Lopez said. “They cut people off from commerce, education, healthcare, and access to public safety.”

The reports noted that such disruptions create “ripple effects,” impacting not only those directly disconnected but “everyone who depends on communicating with them.”

Presented at the Third Telecom Industry Summit, the reports noted that thieves are increasingly “targeting fiber-optic cables, causing widespread disruptions even though the lines contain no copper and therefore resale value.

Even then, Wireless Estimator, an industry publication, said the trade reports understated the threat. The data relied largely on a survey of “large and small internet service providers across the country reporting incidents,” leaving out the four major carriers — AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Dish — which are allegedly not classified as ISPs. 

Broadcast and government towers were also excluded, despite being regular targets of copper theft and vandalism.

Wireless Estimator said many of the most serious incidents were left out entirely.

“In January 2024, thieves in Hugo, Oklahoma, brought down a 500-foot tower to strip copper, taking a broadcaster off the air and causing roughly $500,000 in losses – yet that event is absent from the report’s examples,” Wireless Estimator said. It also pointed to a May 2025 copper theft in Memphis that caused $170,000 in damage. 

States and cities are tightening penalties as thefts rise. This year, 23 states considered new laws and 13 enacted tougher protections, while Congress introduced H.R. 2784, a bill that would make attacks on critical broadband infrastructure a federal crime.