CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Frontier Communications is offering a $5,000 reward for people with information related to copper thefts affecting services.
According to senior vice president of operations Jason Fields, the company has always had problems with people taking copper from Frontier’s equipment, but the problem has “exponentially increased” since 2020. He added the number of customers impacted by copper theft has increased by 400% over the last year.
Fields said there could be a connection to the rising cost of copper. He stated areas in southern West Virginia have been hit harder than communities in the northern counties.
“I was on site yesterday at Campbell’s Creek. It was 19 times this year we’ve had cables stolen up in the Campbells Creek area,” he said Thursday. “We’ve seen quite a few in the Elkview and Sissonville areas, down in Fort Gay and Williamson.”
He continued, “When you think about most of the areas that people are stealing the cables, it’s out in the rural West Virginia areas where it’s dark and there’s not a lot of people, so there’s no witnesses or evidence. It’s very difficult to find the folks who are doing this, and even when you find the folks, the prosecuting becomes difficult and tough.”
Fields noted many areas affected by the thefts are communities with poor mobile services where residents are more reliant on landlines.
“You’re really taking away their lifeline ability to call 911, so it becomes a pretty serious issue,” he said.
Anyone with information should call 1-800-590-6605 or local law enforcement.