AT&T increases reward in cable vandalism to $250,000

cables are not highly secured. The manholes are on public streets, and their covers generally are not that difficult to remove.

The typical manhole cover, a 250- to 350-pound disc of cast iron, can be removed with the use of a J-hook, a steel pole with a hook at one end, or any similar tool. AT&T spokesman John Britton said the vandals must have had access to such tools, but he declined to discuss what extra security precautions the company’s manholes had, if any.

There are ways to deter thieves — or fiber-optic cable cutters — from getting into manholes, said Luke Menchl of the Neenah Foundry in Wisconsin, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of manhole covers. Manhole covers can be locked with five- or six-headed bolts that require special tools to remove, he said. For those who want more security, there is a lock that Menchl likened to “a big security lug nut on expensive automobile wheels.” “U.S. embassies use them,” Menchl said. Ultimately, however, “getting a manhole cover up is not that difficult, even if it’s bolted,” Menchl said (we beg to differ: see the Manhole Barrier Device (MBD) system offered by Garden City, New York-based Manhole Barrier Security Systems (MBSS); to read about it, see “Manhole Security and U.S. Critical Infrastructure,” 18 October 2007 HS Daily Wire).

Coté and Taylor write that the sabotage in the South Bay came as AT&T was negotiating with the Communications Workers of America for a contract covering more than 80,000 employees, who have been working under their old pact since it expired Sunday. “We are working under an expired contract and are prepared to strike at any time, which makes the timing of this vandalism difficult for us,” said Libby Sayre, a regional director for the union. “Neither the union nor its members are involved in this in any way,” she said. “Our members spend their lives keeping up the equipment. We’re confident they didn’t do this.”

Sayre said AT&T brought in contract workers earlier this year to work on fiber-optic cables in the South Bay, apparently to prepare them to take over in the event of a strike. “There are nonunion employees who have access to the sites and the information to do this,” Sayre said. Britton said he had no specifics on contractors who have worked in the area. “AT&T has used vendors at many times when different things come up,” Britton said. “Do we have contingency plans for possible labor issues? Yes.”

FBI agents are helping San Jose and San Carlos police with the “tedious, methodical process” of running down leads, Lopez said. The vandals could face federal and state charges.

In San Carlos, investigators reviewed footage from a red-light enforcement camera a few blocks from where the cables were cut in case the vandals were somehow recorded passing through, Cmdr. Rich Cinfio said. “Everything’s a possibility right now,” Lopez said. “We’re going to expect the unexpected.”