MANILA — Globe Telecom is calling for a coordinated nationwide crackdown on cable and telecommunications-equipment theft after more than 1,200 cases were recorded in just nine months, warning that every stolen cable, battery or network component can leave entire communities without mobile and internet service.
Globe and its tower-company partners recorded 1,245 pilferage cases as of September 2026, resulting in site outages across the country.
The incidents involve more than conventional copper cables.
Previous Globe reports show thieves have targeted:
power cables;
telecommunications equipment;
backup batteries;
generator fuel;
grounding systems;
generators;
and circuit breakers.
That means a theft that may generate only a relatively small amount of money for criminals can disable infrastructure serving thousands of users.
And Globe says the problem is now serious enough that telecom operators cannot solve it alone.
Globe wants a national response
Globe is asking the National Telecommunications Commission to bring together telecom operators, tower companies and relevant government agencies under a more coordinated strategy against network theft.
The company is also seeking stronger involvement from the:
Department of the Interior and Local Government;
Philippine National Police;
local government units;
and barangays nationwide.
Globe General Counsel Froilan Castelo said the issue should no longer be viewed simply as stolen property.
When telecommunications infrastructure disappears or is damaged, communities can lose access to connectivity while money intended for expanding and upgrading networks has to be diverted toward repairs.
That changes the issue from ordinary theft into a broader infrastructure problem.
The real cost is not the metal
A stolen cable may have scrap value.
But its economic value inside a functioning telecommunications network can be much greater.
If thieves cut a power line or remove equipment from a cell site, customers may lose:
mobile signals;
data connectivity;
broadband access;
digital-payment capability;
remote-work connections;
online classes;
and emergency communications.
Businesses dependent on internet access can also lose sales or productivity.
Government offices can face interruptions to digital services.
And during disasters, damaged telecommunications facilities can interfere with warnings and emergency coordination.
So the cost of cable theft is not measured simply by how much it costs Globe to replace a component.
It also includes the economic activity disrupted while that component is missing.
Globe says barangays could become the first line of defense
Many telecommunications facilities are located inside residential and commercial communities.
That gives local officials an important role.
Globe wants barangay officials and barangay tanods to help monitor vulnerable sites, identify suspicious activity and check whether people appearing to work on telecommunications equipment are actually authorized personnel.
That last point matters because cable thieves can resemble legitimate repair crews.
Telecom infrastructure is commonly installed on:
utility poles;
roadside cabinets;
cell sites;
and other publicly accessible locations.
Someone cutting or removing equipment may therefore not immediately attract attention.
Local verification could help authorities distinguish a genuine repair team from a theft operation.
But catching thieves may solve only half the problem
Globe also wants authorities to focus on the market for stolen materials.
The economic logic is straightforward.
Cable theft remains profitable only if thieves have somewhere to sell what they steal.
Globe says enforcement therefore needs to target people or businesses buying stolen:
cables;
batteries;
equipment;
and other telecommunications materials.
Reducing demand could be more effective than simply catching individual thieves.
If scrap dealers and other buyers refuse suspicious telecommunications materials—or face meaningful enforcement when they purchase them—the resale value falls.
That can make theft less attractive in the first place.
Philippine law already provides penalties
Authorities do not necessarily need an entirely new law before taking action.
The Revised Penal Code can apply to theft.
The Anti-Fencing Law can be used against people knowingly buying or dealing in stolen property.
And Republic Act No. 10515, the Anti-Cable Television and Cable Internet Tapping Act of 2013, specifically makes it unlawful to willfully damage, destroy or remove cable television or cable-internet facilities.
RA 10515 provides penalties of two to five years in prison, a fine of ₱50,000 to ₱100,000, or both, depending on the court.
Globe’s argument is therefore less about the absence of legal tools and more about whether existing rules are being enforced consistently enough to deter repeat crimes.
The problem has persisted for years
Cable theft is not new to Philippine telecom operators.
Globe was already reporting large numbers of incidents several years ago.
From January to May 2022, the company recorded 1,876 cable-theft cases.
That dropped to 746 during the same period in 2023—a 60% improvement—but certain cities remained hotspots.
At the time, Cebu City recorded 498 incidents.
Quezon City recorded 171.
Manila had 161.
Mandaue City had 118.
The historical numbers show that enforcement and coordination can reduce theft.
But the 1,245 cases recorded through September 2026 show the problem has not disappeared.
South Luzon has become another major concern
Earlier this year, Globe singled out several provinces in South Luzon.
From 2025 through April 2026, the company recorded 216 infrastructure-theft incidents in Laguna, Cavite, Oriental Mindoro and Albay.
Laguna recorded 67 cases.
Cavite had 46.
Oriental Mindoro recorded 20.
In Albay, Globe said incidents involving cables, batteries and network equipment had risen more than fourfold in 2026 compared with the previous year.
The company had already endorsed 53 cases to the PNP at that point.
That suggests Globe’s latest call is not merely a public-relations campaign.
The company has been escalating the issue with authorities for months.
Telecom outages are already under intense regulatory scrutiny
The cable-theft issue comes at an awkward time for Philippine telecommunications companies.
The NTC recently threatened Globe, Smart and DITO with ₱100,000-a-day penalties after tests found weak mobile broadband performance remained unresolved in several Metro Manila areas.
Globe’s areas of concern included Manila, Makati and Quezon City.
Telecom operators have pushed back, saying the NTC imposed fines before giving them adequate opportunity to contest the findings.
Cable theft does not explain every network-performance problem.
But it demonstrates why maintaining service quality is more complicated than simply installing additional towers and fiber.
Operators must also protect what has already been built.
One stolen component can undermine millions in investment
Philippine telecom companies spend heavily every year on:
new fiber;
cell sites;
5G equipment;
data centers;
submarine cables;
and network upgrades.
But when existing equipment is repeatedly stolen, part of that investment budget has to be redirected toward replacing infrastructure that was already installed.
That creates an opportunity cost.
Every peso spent restoring stolen equipment is a peso that cannot be spent on:
new coverage;
faster networks;
additional redundancy;
or capacity upgrades.
For a country still trying to close its digital divide, that matters.
Fiber itself often has little scrap value
One of the strange features of modern cable theft is that thieves sometimes target fiber-optic lines, apparently assuming they contain valuable copper.
Globe has previously launched public-awareness campaigns emphasizing that fiber cables have little or no conventional scrap value. Its 2025 integrated report said these campaigns were part of a broader effort that helped reduce fiber-cut incidents nationwide by 17%, equivalent to 1,769 fewer incidents compared with 2024.
That creates a particularly destructive form of theft.
A criminal may cut a critical fiber link only to discover there is little valuable metal inside.
Customers can still lose connectivity.
The operator still has to dispatch technicians.
And the cable still has to be repaired.
The social damage can therefore greatly exceed the thief’s potential financial gain.
Globe is experimenting with harder-to-steal infrastructure
The company has also tried technical solutions.
Its integrated report says Globe has piloted armored Optical Ground Wire aerial cables in high-risk areas to make them more difficult to cut.
It has also adopted measures including:
higher poles;
better network monitoring;
engineering improvements;
and more resilient network access points.
These measures can reduce vulnerability.
But technology alone cannot eliminate the problem.
Telecommunications networks cover enormous geographic areas.
It is unrealistic to physically guard every pole, cabinet and tower around the clock.
That is why Globe keeps returning to the same solution:
community vigilance plus law enforcement.
Underground infrastructure could eventually help
Globe is also advocating a broader shift toward planned underground telecommunications conduits.
In August, the company backed a unified national underground-conduit policy to reduce both theft and accidental fiber cuts.
The idea fits the Philippines’ Konektadong Pinoy Act, Republic Act No. 12234.
Section 17 requires government agencies including the DICT and DPWH, working with the NTC, DILG, LGUs and private companies, to develop a national “Dig Once” policy.
The principle is simple:
When roads or other infrastructure are already being excavated, telecommunications conduits should be installed at the same time where practical.
That can reduce repeated road digging while giving fiber a more protected route.
Underground cables are not a complete solution
Putting more fiber underground could reduce theft.
But it creates other risks.
Excavators can still cut cables accidentally.
Flooding can damage poorly designed infrastructure.
Underground deployment can be more expensive.
And fragmented local rules can make projects difficult to coordinate.
That is why Globe wants a unified national framework rather than different standards in every city or municipality.
The goal is not simply to bury cables.
It is to build predictable infrastructure corridors that multiple telecom companies can use safely.
Redundancy matters because cables will always fail
Another lesson from recent network disruptions is that no cable system can be completely protected.
Just days before Globe issued its theft warning, the company experienced service problems linked to an international subsea cable disruption between the Philippines and Singapore.
Globe rerouted traffic through other international routes while repairs were completed.
Converge said its own investments in the Bifrost and SEA-H2X submarine cable systems allowed it to avoid major disruption from the same incident.
The underlying principle applies equally to local theft.
Operators need redundancy so one damaged cable does not knock an entire community offline.
But redundancy costs money.
Preventing avoidable theft is therefore still cheaper than endlessly engineering around criminals.
Cable theft can become more dangerous during disasters
The Philippines is especially dependent on resilient telecommunications because of typhoons, earthquakes and floods.
During a major disaster, networks are needed for:
emergency calls;
government alerts;
search and rescue;
digital payments;
coordination among responders;
and communication between families.
A stolen backup battery or generator may have little visible effect during normal conditions.
During a blackout, it can determine whether a cell site remains operational.
This is one reason Globe’s June warning in South Luzon specifically described connectivity as a lifeline for communities.
Protecting telecom infrastructure therefore has a disaster-resilience dimension as well as a commercial one.
The national response Globe wants has several layers
Globe’s proposal is not simply “arrest more thieves.”
It effectively calls for a chain of enforcement:
Barangays monitor vulnerable sites.
Residents report suspicious activity.
Police investigate theft.
LGUs coordinate local protection.
NTC brings operators and government agencies together.
Authorities investigate buyers of stolen materials.
Telecom companies improve physical security.
And laws against theft, fencing and infrastructure damage are consistently enforced.
That approach reflects the reality that infrastructure theft is a supply chain.
There is the thief.
There is often transportation.
There is a buyer.
There may be a scrap dealer or reseller.
Breaking only one link may not stop the activity.
The resale market could be the real pressure point
This may ultimately be Globe’s strongest argument.
A thief steals because the stolen item has value somewhere else.
If authorities focus exclusively on people cutting cables, they are dealing with the lowest level of the business.
Going after the buyers changes the economics.
Scrap dealers and resellers can become choke points.
If receiving stolen telecom equipment becomes too risky, the potential market shrinks.
And if the resale price collapses, theft becomes less attractive.
That principle has been used against other forms of infrastructure crime around the world, including stolen copper from railways, power systems and construction sites.
The Philippines could apply the same strategy more systematically to telecommunications.
Customers ultimately pay part of the cost
Globe does not publish a peso figure in its latest warning for the total financial damage from the 1,245 incidents.
So it would be inaccurate to assign a specific national loss figure.
But the economic mechanism is clear.
Telecom operators pay to:
replace components;
send repair crews;
secure sites;
install stronger equipment;
and build redundant infrastructure.
Those costs ultimately become part of operating and capital expenditure.
Even when consumers are not directly billed for a specific theft incident, repeated infrastructure crime makes running a communications network more expensive.
That is why this issue extends beyond Globe shareholders.
The Philippines wants better internet—but must protect the network it already has
Government policy is increasingly focused on improving Philippine connectivity.
The Konektadong Pinoy Act seeks to expand infrastructure, competition and reliable internet access.
Regulators are pressuring telcos to improve service quality.
Operators are investing in fiber, 5G and international links.
But those efforts become less effective if equipment already installed in communities is repeatedly stolen or destroyed.
The country therefore faces two infrastructure tasks at the same time:
build more networks;
and protect the networks already operating.
Ignoring the second makes the first more expensive.
Globe’s 1,245 cases are ultimately a connectivity warning
Cable theft can sound like a minor property crime.
At telecommunications scale, it is not.
A thief may remove one cable.
But that cable may connect a tower serving thousands of users.
A stolen battery may seem insignificant.
But during a power outage, it may be the equipment keeping a community online.
And a cut fiber line may have almost no scrap value while carrying enormous amounts of data.
That is why Globe is asking government agencies, police, LGUs and communities to treat telecommunications theft as an infrastructure problem rather than simply a missing-property report.
The Philippines is spending billions of pesos building a more connected economy.
The question now is whether authorities can make stealing the infrastructure behind that economy difficult—and selling it even harder.
Because arresting the people cutting cables may reduce the incidents.
Shutting down the market that makes those thefts profitable could be what finally changes the equation.
