Bell Canada has filed against a man arrested in connection with copper wire theft from the company.

They claim there have been more than 170 incidents of theft from their networks over the last 15 months, mainly in New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec.

That amounts to over $3 million in damage and hundreds of hours of service interruptions.

In addition to pursuing criminal charges, Bell will seek monetary damages from any individual that steals the company’s copper wire, including any individuals or scrap yard businesses who knowingly purchased the stolen copper.

The company says each incident takes on average 10 to 12 hours to repair, and during this time customers may not have access to the Internet, TV and home phone, which impacts their ability to reach emergency services.

Bell is also pushing the federal and provincial governments for increased fines and amendments to the criminal code.

“The lawsuit is another step we are taking to protect our critical infrastructure against recurring theft and vandalism. Reliable communications networks are essential for everyone to run their business, stay connected and connect to emergency services. Extra alarms, security and support from local law enforcement aren’t enough. We need the government’s help in prioritizing increased fines and amendments to the criminal code to protect our critical infrastructure,” says Nick Payant, VP of Operations Services and Core Network.

Statement of Claim Bell Canada et al. v Sylvain Fleury et al