Theft of copper wire will delay new high-speed wireless service in River John

Some residents of the River John, N.S., area will have to wait a bit longer before they have access to a new high-speed wireless serviceafter someone stole copper wire from one of the project's towers.

The tower on Mountain Road was already erected butawaiting power connection when the thief struck earlier this month, climbing about 15 metres to steal the wire.

Scott Hewey, the rural broadband network manager for the Municipality of Pictou County that is spearheading the project, said the value of the wire is about $60 to $75.

"It's unfortunate thatpeople need to go to these lengths to get a few bucks worth of copper. In this case it was a very dangerous situation. Is it worth killing yourself climbing 50 or 100 feet for 60 or 70 bucks?

"I've climbed those towers personally myself and I know how difficult it can be to hang on.Even when you're secured with a harness, your arms get tired and your legs get tired. So I can't imagine doing it without one."

The thief would have needed a ladder to reach the first steps on the 30-metre tower, Hewey said.

A security fence will be constructed around the site once it's up and running, but it hadn't been installed yet at the time of the theft.

Delay in service

The incident will delay the operation of the service by two tothree weeks, Hewey said.

About 113 residents in the area have signed up for the new service including the River John Fire Department but it will be available to hundreds more.

"They've been anxiously awaiting being able to take advantage of thisnew site."

RCMP are investigating. Cpl. Chris Marshall said the theft occurred sometime between April 12 and 19.

Dangerous practice

He said stealing copper can be dangerous.

"People shouldn't be stealing, but there's also a significant concern for folks that do do these kind of things, as they're putting their lives at risk."

In February, a man died byelectrocution during a suspected attempted theft of copper wire from a Nova Scotia Power substation in Stellarton.