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MTN has provided information on its ongoing battle with battery thieves and criminal syndicates in South Africa.
The mobile operator has been very successful in fighting battery theft in mobile base stations this year, a problem that is widespread in the country and affects all mobile operators with a physical network.
“The highlight of the year was the launch of MTN’s 5G network in June and the implementation of a new Plan 360 Security Model, which led to a significant 49% reduction in incidents of battery theft and vandalism related to the previous year, ”MTN said.
“The battle against battery and cable theft has been challenging for many years, but MTN has continued to fight hard against thieves and unions.”
The mobile phone operator said that the implementation of this plan allowed MTN to fight back these criminals, and the number of recorded incidents fell from 2,195 last year to 1,115 this year.
“This reduction in incidents resulted in a 45% reduction in actual battery losses for the year, from 13,066 to 7,150 from 2019 to 2020, respectively,” said MTN Network Chief Operating Officer Ernest Paul.
“We are pleased to have made significant progress in 2020 and we continue to implement measures to safeguard our network and infrastructure to ensure that customers continue to enjoy uninterrupted network connectivity at all times.”
“Connectivity has permeated every aspect of our lives and unplanned network outages are not only disruptive but also undermine ongoing efforts to attract investment to South Africa and create much-needed job opportunities,” said Paul.
Tackling criminals head-on
MTN said its new security strategy is delivering impressive results in terms of preventing battery theft and improving battery recovery rates.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, there were 153 stolen battery incidents, compared to 292 in the previous quarter and 472 in the first quarter of the year.
Compared to 2019, the drop is even more impressive: 432 battery incidents were recorded in the first quarter of 2019, with up to 630 incidents of battery theft in the first quarter of 2019.
In addition, a total of 191 batteries were recovered in November 2020, five vehicles were seized and 19 suspects were arrested and charged.
So far this year, 240 arrests have been made and a total of 857 lead-acid batteries and 401 lithium batteries have been recovered.
Added to this is the recovery of 80 copper network cables.
“Our 360 plan security model stands out as a key turning point. It is an industry first in security services design, modeled around a managed services approach, compared to traditional resource-based models, ”said Paul.
“It has been further strengthened with the focus on Physical Security of the Managed Service of the National Operations Center, which is the heart of the entire 360 Plan.”
“Added to this is tactical intervention and armed response, intelligence and investigations, special operations and air support, to name a few,” he said.
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