Copper thieves cut NBN fibre at Bridgewater bridge, leaving Hobart's north offline

Homes and businesses in Hobart's northern suburbs went more than a day without internet after suspected copper thieves damaged NBN cabling near Gagebrook, Pulse Tasmania reported. The outage started around midday on Friday 6 November 2026 and affected NBN services in and around the Brighton municipality, including Old Beach. An NBN spokesperson said on Friday that about 1,350 customers were affected, while Tasmania Police later described disruption to "several thousand customers".

The spokesperson said the outage was predominantly affecting fibre-to-the-node services. An NBN network update issued around 6pm on Friday said field technicians had found two cables cut by vandals trying to steal copper, in a section crossing a major bridge, and described the repair as "a big job". Pulse reported that sources said the offenders appear to have used a ladder to cut heavy-duty pipes carrying telecommunications and electricity cables on both sides of the bridge, then cut the cables and pulled them through.

The repair plan involved retrieving the damaged cabling on each side of the bridge, laying two replacement cables over the crossing and fitting temporary joins at both ends. NBN gave no restoration estimate on Friday, and some residents said on social media that their providers had told them the outage could last until Sunday. One provider's message shared in a local Facebook group put restoration at 5:01pm on Sunday.

By Saturday, technicians had worked throughout the day to haul new cabling and had begun joining it, according to an NBN update that afternoon. NBN said services would return progressively, with full restoration expected between 6pm and 8pm on Saturday. Customers still without service later that night were advised to power their modem off and on at the wall, which NBN said would often restore the connection. The spokesperson said NBN appreciated "community patience and understanding while we have worked to restore connectivity".

A Tasmania Police spokesperson said reports of copper theft had increased across the state, including several involving offenders targeting communications sites in southern Tasmania. The spokesperson said offenders were "risking their own lives in undertaking this illegal and highly dangerous activity". Police are continuing to investigate and disrupt the market for stolen copper, including compliance checks on recycled metal businesses, and have asked anyone with information to come forward.