Telcos, Thieves Look to Cash In on Copper

Despite copper's ongoing fadeout from the telecommunications industry, service providers still see the metal as a lucrative opportunity. But they're not only ones who feel that way.

Copper theft has drawn media attention across the U.S., with the incidents taking out streetlights and 911 calling. Occasionally the copper has come from a mix of sources, including electrical substations, statues and vacant homes. But the targets also include cellular towers and telephone landlines run by incumbent local exchange carriers. The copper thieves recognize what the telcos themselves have seen: the high value of copper, especially in an era of energy transition.

Telcos are rationalizing their portfolios in a big way, and recent forbearance from the Federal Communications Commission has accelerated shutoffs of copper networks. AT&T on Thursday announced the pending closures of facilities in Indiana and North Carolina cities. Business customers and the channel partners who serve them have felt the impact of copper closures and price hikes. In some cases, telco customers have seen the costs of their plain-old-telephone-service (POTS) lines increase tenfold.

Copper Theft: Rewards Rising

Windstream's Kinetic residential and SMB business on Wednesday announced a $10,000 award for information regarding copper thefts in Clay County, Kentucky. According to the carrier, 66 copper thefts have occurred in the county in 2024.

Related:Copper Thieves Pose as AT&T Workers

Windstream's Susan Schraibman

“This is a widescale problem affecting many telecom providers in Kentucky,” said Susan Schraibman, regional president of Kinetic’s Kentucky operations. “These crimes harm the community and small businesses. Copper-cable thefts increase costs and result in outages that prevent our customers from making phone calls, including to 911."

Schraibman noted that the thefts occasionally cause damage to fiber optic cables. The larger telecom industry is moving its customers away from copper-based TDM lines and onto fiber. According to Schraibman, severe injuries have occurred during some of these thefts since cables are often close to electrical lines.

Windstream is not alone in offering financial rewards. Verizon made a $10,000 offer for info on thieves in Pennsylvania. AT&T late in 2023 gave a $40,000 grant to the San Joaquin county law enforcement to monitor copper theft. Recently, three Californian cities suffered the loss of 16,000 copper wires, which impacted 911 service.

At the same time, these providers are beating a fast retreat away from their copper-based facilities. AT&T in particular is battling to drop its title of California's "carrier-of-last-resort."

Related:As Copper Retirement Accelerates, Customers Feel the Pain of POTS Transformation

Copper Recycling

At the same time, service providers are mulling what to do with copper that now lies dormant. One such possibility is that they recycle and resell it. TXO, which works in copper recycling, has urged telcos to work with them in this process, saying the 800,000 metric tons of copper might be worth more than $7 billion.

Various players in burgeoning energy fields will pay a handsome dollar for the copper, TXO said. Electric vehicle battery and wind turbines are among the key demanders of the metal; yet, Bloomberg reports that copper mining prices have skyrocketed along with the increased demand.

"Even under the most optimistic recovery estimates, recycled copper will constitute only a tiny fraction of the annual demand," Wireless Estimator wrote. "This fraction could be smaller if the migration to fiber-optic cables is incomplete or if some copper cables must remain in place to avoid significant disruptions, such as maintaining critical health services. Nevertheless, any additional supply would be welcome in the market."

And indeed, telcos are listening. Bloomberg recently wrote that global giants AT&T, BT and Orange are all developing strategies for copper reclamation. AT&T in particular already recycled more than 14,000 tons between 2021 and 2023, and is working with four copper reclamation centers.

"It's gotten to be a fairly sizable business for us, and we're heading into much bigger numbers," AT&T wireline transformation and global supply chain general manager Susan Johnson said.