NBN pillar goes missing

An NBN pillar has gone missing from a North Fremantle nature strip, forcing technicians to completely replace it in order to reconnect 167 affected premises.

Credit: Josh Wilson MP/Facebook

The pillar was allegedly “stolen” sometime early on Thursday morning last week, the area’s federal MP Josh Wilson said in a Facebook post.

There was further speculation that the pillar may have been removed after being hit by a car, however the cause of the missing pillar is yet to be officially confirmed.

It is understood WA Police has been informed.

Wilson at the time said NBN Co had “committed to working on providing a short term fix to these houses, alongside the job of replacing the pillar which will take a number of weeks".

Technicians are understood to have attended the site on Friday and were continuing to work to restore services.

NBN Co hopes to have services restored in the next few days, however the remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Joyce could hamper the job, with Perth expected to cop heavy rain.

Parts of telecommunications networks have previously been subjected to suspected vandalism.

Late last year, an exchange in south-east Perth was targeted, cutting services to about 4000 premises.

In 2014, Tasmanian police were called to investigate how vandals managed to cut Telstra cables in three locations in one suburb, causing significant disruption.

And in 2012, a major fibre cable connecting Maitland and the Hunter Valley in NSW was deliberately cut, affecting thousands of phone and broadband services.