The Kansas legislature recently enacted HB 2061 that declared that broadband is critical infrastructure. Specifically, the new law says that it is a felony to trespass or damage aboveground and belowground lines, cable and wires used for telecommunications or video services. When Governor Laura Kelly signed the bill she said it critical that all Kansans have access to reliable high-speed internet.

Kansas joins Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee in classifying broadband networks as critical infrastructure and making it a crime to interfere with or damage telecom networks.

At the federal level, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) includes communications technology as one of its sectors of critical infrastructure. The CISA website says, “The Information Technology Sector is central to the nation’s security, economy, public health, and safety, as businesses, governments, academia, and private citizens are increasingly dependent on its functions”.

This might seem like feel-good legislation sponsored by the telecom industry. However, the real goal is to make it easier for law enforcement to go after those who vandalize networks. There is a notable uptick in reported theft and damage to our networks. A whitepaper by NCTA, CTA, USTelecom, and the Rural Broadband Association highlighted a nationwide survey of telecom providers for June through August 2024 that identified 3,929 incidents of theft and vandalism, which is 44 incidents per day. The attack on networks affected service to more than 325,000 customers. In addition to knocking neighborhoods out of service, the attacks have disrupted 911 centers, emergency responses, and hospitals.

The current primary driver of damage to networks is copper thefts. But there are also numerous reported attacks on utility poles, cellular towers, telecom construction projects, and fiber optic wiring. The attacks aren’t limited to telecom networks, and there is a growing number of attacks on electric grids and EV charging stations.

The Kansas law hopefully makes it easier to penalize those caught in vandalism to networks. This law is part of a national strategy to make it easier for law enforcement to work with carriers to reduce vandalism. Raising crimes against networks to felonies means a higher priority to pursue those doing the damage, and just maybe, a little less desire to do the damage.