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AFTER grappling with cable vandalism in Kunak, Telekom Malaysia (TM) Bhd is now facing a new problem in the district — damage caused by rodents.

Rats partially gnawed through the company’s lines in one part of Kg Simpang Empat, leaving three Unifi subscribers without the use of their wireless Internet service for almost a month recently.

TM customers, living along Lorong Muhibbah in the village, experienced a similar outage in November, after mischief-makers hacked some of the company’s cables.

In January, the Unifi service in Kg Jaya Baru – in another part of Kunak – was disrupted due to the same act of vandalism. Two of firm’s subscribers, on Lorong 10, were unable to access the Internet for between one to two weeks in this instance. 

The TM customers who spoke out about the latest breakdown in Kg Simpang Empat, provided Hotline with the details of their account. This information was forwarded to the company.

A TM spokeswoman said its Kunak branch-office was informed about their grievances.

“A team from the Network Section went to Kg Simpang Empat shortly afterwards,” she said. “Our technicians found that rodent bites had triggered a cable fault which rendered the subscribers’ Unifi service out of order.”

They immediately proceeded to replace the damaged cable on the spot, according to her.

“Our personnel later checked on the cabinet and distribution-points servicing the customers. They tightened any loose connections inside and double-checked that the Unifi for these individuals was functioning as it should. 

The spokeswoman said the company was weighing up the possibility of giving the affected subscribers a rebate for the period during which their Unifi was down.

To this end, she said these subscribers could apply to have their charges refunded to them via TM’s Myunifi app.

“The rebates will be calculated from the date when they lost their service. They should provide us with their ‘nombor aduan (complaint number)’ for this purpose.

Where the cable damage, which had taken place in Kg Simpang Empat and Kg Jaya Baru previously, was concerned, she said the firm suspected that the perpetrators might have been metal thieves. 

“They cut our lines but did not remove them. They were most likely dissuaded from acting on their intent after discovering that our service lines were not copper-based.”

She said the TM had carried out a “fiberisation” exercise at both villages, with its previous copper cables being replaced with new fibre-optic ones.

“Police reports have been made about these incidents as intentions to steal our assets were evident in each instance. So far, however, the culprits have yet to be caught.”

In light of the persistent telecommunication disruptions in Kunak, the spokeswoman said its staff had been asked to be more proactive when it came to keeping an eye on the TM assets in the district, to prevent these installations from being damaged by pests and unscrupulous parties.

On Saturday, she said, another group of the company’s technicians dealt with some fallen cables at the Jalan Kampung Kadazan and Jalan Lormalong Scheme junction outside the town.

“They attended to the lines lying on the road, as well as any telephone poles which were leaning over or had fallen down. We got the impression that the cables may have snagged on the top of a large vehicle and been pulled out of their original position.” 

The spokeswoman said there was no fixed maintenance schedule for TM installations around the State.

“Our assets are attended to as and when it becomes necessary to do so.”

To this end, he said the company’s staff had been asked to be more mindful of any irregularities involving these structures and to take the appropriate action.

“We also hope that our subscribers will inform us directly of any problems involving our wires and poles.”