The Australian network of Internet cables worth millions of dollars daily is attacked from the unexpected side - parrots crocheted gnawing wires.
Representatives of the National Broadband Network (NBN) said that since the birds began to gnaw the cable, they caused damage, which is estimated at tens of thousands of dollars.
The Australian cable network is already criticized for its low speed, according to recent reports, according to this indicator, the Australian provider was on the 50th place in the world.
In NBN, it is expected that, as new damage is discovered, costs will sharply increase.
The average speed of Internet connection in Australia is about 11.1 megabits per second, which is lower than in many developed countries. To increase the speed in the country launched a national infrastructure project, which should be fully implemented by 2021.
Recently, the project engineers began to notice that the cable on the masts, which are used to distribute Internet connections in remote areas, is chewed. Was found and pest. They were parrots of the type of cockatoos, which usually eat fruits, nuts, branches and bark of trees.
Each time, NBN was forced to replace both power and fiber cables worth tens of thousands of dollars. At the moment, the company spent on repair 80 thousand Australian dollars (61500 dollars).
Parrots usually do not eat the cable, Gizela Kaplan, an animal behavior specialist, told news agency. "This is not their usual behavior," she said.
According to the biologist, the color or arrangement of cables can attract the attention of birds.
"They constantly sharpen their beaks and therefore often peck and tear everything they find in their way, unfortunately they liked our cables." When these birds get into flocks, they can not be stopped, "complains one of the project managers, Shedrian Bresland, in his article , posted on the company's website. "That's Australia: if spiders or snakes do not get you, the cockatoo will do it."
The company has found a way to secure the masts. The ends of the cable cover with a cover that costs only 14 Australian dollars.
0 Comments