Comment posted What’s a fibreoptic cable doing lying on a beach anyway? by Tony Gill.
Ah. Don’t forget BT have been using special ‘self burying’ cable for many years. For ages there was a large loop of the main cable to the village lying on my beach. It disappeared several years ago.
It must have buried itself as the phones still work.
Perhaps BT need to concentrate on developing a ‘high speed’ self burying cable that wouldn’t be noticeable for quite so long.
Recent comments by Tony Gill
- Coastguard understaffing issue even more serious than thought
Since the quango MCA was created, HM Coastgard has been demoralised and decimated.See my two responses in ‘MacMillan expressed concerns on Coastguard issues’.
- McMillan expresses concerns on Coastguard issue
Mr Beaton. I am an ex Merchant Navy navigating officer. Do not compare the real seafaring men who served so bravely during the war, or those who manned our British Merchant Fleet in the middle part of last century, before it vanished, with the sort of people I was alluding to stalking the halls of Spring Palace. They are very, very different.HM Coastguard used to be manned to a large extent by ex Merchant Navy officers. Ex Royal Navy mariners as well. The service was proud and its officers too, knowing they were reassuring colleagues still at sea.
The MCA decided ‘bearded old fogies’ should no longer be the ‘face’ of the New Coastguard – too old fashioned. (Never mind their experience and knowledge of the sea, ships and seafarers) They weren’t the image the new ‘progressive’ modern ‘agency’ wanted.
So, uniforms turned plastic. Proper hats were replaced by baseball caps. ‘HM’ was removed from ‘HM Coastguard’ and people with no seagoing experience were recruited. (They can be trained to do the job, I know, but can they ever think like an experienced seafarer?). It was a deliberate marginalisation of a once proud service. I felt and saw the results for myself.
I swelled with pride when, a long time ago, I stood on the bridge of a cargo ship as she was manoeuvred clear of docks that are now the car park of the SECC, and we set off on a voyage of adventure. Throughout my seagoing career, on deep sea ships and then on small craft teaching people the ways of the sea, I have felt my work worthwhile as a member of an island nation. When I came ashore I was proud to volunteer and serve in HM Coastguard helping to keep seafarers safe and coordinate their rescue in circumstances that, but for fortune, I may have been in myself.
All my colleages felt that same pride in their work and service.
Then came the MCA.
Now, a great, dedicated and proud service has been demoralised and almost demolished by an upstart government quango which, to my mind, has shown itself not fit for purpose.
- McMillan expresses concerns on Coastguard issue
The problem lies fair and square with the MCA ( Maritime and Coastguard Agency) a government quango, set up by the Bliar government, that is not fit for purpose.I have walked through the corridors of their headquarters in Southampton, Spring Place – Spring Palace to those in the know – and listened to the Master Mariners who run the place (i.e. failed ships captains – people with the paper qualifications, but who can’t stand being at sea and captaining actual ships) saying that their aim is to get rid of all the small commercial boats around the coast, thus making it easier and cheaper to fulfil the nations international obligations to provide a comprehensive maritime search and rescue organisation around the UK coasts. In reality paying lip service to those obligations.
HM Coastguard has been a well respected service for mariners for more than a hundred years. The MCA’s failed seafarers have, in almost no time, demolished the pride and integrity of a service steeped in history. Even a ‘Royal’ was prompted to ask why the ‘HM’ had been erased from its title. There was no answer. The arrogance of those who inhabit Spring Palace knows no bounds.
- Loch Lomond Seaplanes awarded TripAdvisor 2013 Certificate of Excellence
Super service. Great Idea. I wonder why there aren’t more seaplanes about. What a great way to see our wonderful wild country. - Canadian tourist in accident at Cairnbaan junction with A816 – flags up safety issue
I too have nearly been hit by a foreign driver not realising he/she is on the wrong side of the road. Europeans bringing their own cars over are more likely to make this mistake, as it’s not natural for the driver to be nearest to the kerb, but a Canadian who probably hired a right hand drive car is less likely to make that mistake.I am always very watchful at that junction when on the A816 having lost count of the vehicles that have driven straight into my path from the Cairnbaan road. People don’t want to do that, so I think there must be a problem with the signage, though I think it’s clear – but then, I know the junction.
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BT are not the sharpest knife in the block!
When my local area had telephone cable taken from each pole and laid in the ditch, they simply left large sections on the surface, despite being informed of this nothing happened……that is until ditch renovation was routinely carried out and a flayer was used to cut back brambles etc…..I think you can see where I’m going! Result a chewed cable, no phones and two services namely council and BT blaming each other. So, your story does not surprise me in the slightest.
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As I understand it the cable was buried and the thieves were attempting to dig it up – it was not ‘lying on a beach’.
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The visual evidence of the television footage – with the camera resting on the image of the cut section and the rest of the cable – showed a long continuation of the cable lying on the surface of the beach and vanishing into the tide, with absolutely no trace of its having been dug up anywhere along that length. There was, for example, no visible disturbance to the seaweed, which is easy to spot. I paid particular attention to what was shown – LOOKING for something suggesting it had been dug up. There was nothing, and the reporter’s commentary made no reference to digging up or uncovering the cable in any way.
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100% correct Newsroom
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Ah. Don’t forget BT have been using special ‘self burying’ cable for many years. For ages there was a large loop of the main cable to the village lying on my beach. It disappeared several years ago.
It must have buried itself as the phones still work.
Perhaps BT need to concentrate on developing a ‘high speed’ self burying cable that wouldn’t be noticeable for quite so long.
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2 things to point out are that, fiber optic cable is very expensive so has to be burried under the sea rather than round land due to cost and logistics (they are burried under the sea all over the world). Secondly, when this cable is installed it is burried under the sea bed but over time the tides and power of the sea will uncover sections. This cable is very tough and will withstand the power of nature but it will not, however, withstand the power of a chainsaw, heavy duty cable cutters or whatever other weapons these thieves decide to use.
Phone companies spend many £millions every year to combat cable theft and this is now a real problem. More help is needed from local communities and the police to help find these people who are undoubtedly putting real lives at risk
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Wrong! see 2 above, and do you realise how deep the oceans are? Cables are not buried under the sea or loch bed, but the point where they are most vulnerable is on the surface before entering the water (fresh or salt). There perhaps they should be fed through buried (metal) duct or duct embedded in concrete.
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I am concerned that given the importance of this cable, and the fact that it linked in the personal alarm call systems for over 200 vunerable elderly folks, that there was no back up system. Even a well buried cable can be the target of thieves..in this case dumb ones, so if vital services are at risk a surely it would make sense to have a more robust back up system…there are a lot of remote homes in this area.
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You get what you pay for, if you buy a telephone line then that is what you get. If you need resilience then you install a system with an independent backup connection, perhaps a small mobile phone module built into the unit.
Many commercial systems specify two independent circuits that never come near each other even when they enter the user’s premises. But it costs a lot more.
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In fairness to BT, there are virtually NO BEACHES on Loch Carron. It appears this cable was on the Stromeferry side of the loch. It could be accessed by parking in a passing place, crossing a fence, crossing the rail line, crossing another fence, then making your way down the rocks to the rocky shoreline.
That side of the loch is effectively inaccessible and the picture being painted of a cable lying around on a sandy beach is wrong.
Interestingly, the damage did not effect landline telephone services locally. It did stuff the internet and mobile phones. (except Orange)
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This is a useful picture in terms of accessibility – but the cable was still lying on the beach. That has to be mmethod is wildly disproportionate to the value of the infrastructure and the business and personal services it supports.
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Have you asked BT to comment on this? I for one would be interested to hear their reply.
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