An increase in copper wire theft in the Northern Territory is leaving rural residents without phone or internet connections and unable to call for help in the event of an emergency.

Key points: Almost 40km of copper wire has been stolen in the NT over the past 18 months, Telstra says

Almost 40km of copper wire has been stolen in the NT over the past 18 months, Telstra says Rural residents with health issues are particularly alarmed that lives could be put in danger with no access to communications in an emergency when services are cut

Rural residents with health issues are particularly alarmed that lives could be put in danger with no access to communications in an emergency when services are cut The NT could mirror new laws introduced by the Victorian Government last year, banning cash for scrap metal

Demand for the metal, also known as "poor man's gold", from nations such as China, South Korea and Malaysia has created a robust international trade, but also a growing black market for the metal.

Recently, Northern Territory Police said they were investigating the alleged theft of reels of copper cables from the NT's Power and Water authority.

The anonymous claims were made by a man alleging to be an employee of the Government-owned corporation.

'Lives in jeopardy'

Residents in Darwin's rural area have been the victims of underground copper cable theft for several years, but an increase in thefts over the past 18 months has residents concerned.

Live underground copper cables which connect landlines and internet connections have been ripped out of the ground and stolen.

Noonamah resident Geoffrey Baker has had heart attacks and takes medications which cause him to have seizures so he requires access to his landline.

But after having his connection cut multiple times due to a recent spate of thefts, Mr Baker was frustrated.

"I'm a medical priority, and our mobile phone service out here is not reliable," he said.

"We rely on the landline for emergencies, and when you don't have phone service for over a week, it has considerable impact."

Mr Baker said he was concerned it was not only those with medical conditions who were at risk when services were cut.

"When the service does go out like that, people's lives are put in jeopardy," he said.

"That's not Telstra's fault, but whatever system they've got in place to support people like myself or elderly people in the community that do require constant phone line access, it doesn't work.

"Enough's enough … it's putting community at risk, it's putting people's lives at risk, for very little reward."

Geoffrey Baker says when copper is stolen "people's lives are put in jeopardy". ( ABC News: Terry McDonald )

Ten days to repair each wire

Copper theft has been a major issue for Telstra, with almost 40 kilometres stolen over the past 18 months, according to NT area general manager Nic Danks.

He said rural areas chiefly worked on the NBN wireless network.

"So they're still reliant on their copper service for their internet services, landline services, eftpos machines," he said.

"Chemists are still using it, doctors' surgeries, schools — you name it, they're all still using the copper network."

Mr Danks said the company had to fly technicians in from around the country to deal with demand, at "significant cost".

"It takes us about an average of 10 days to replace every one of these coppers when they're cut," Mr Danks said.

He said he believed people with knowledge of how to safely steal live copper wire without getting electrocuted were behind the thefts, a sentiment echoed by NT Police.

They confirmed that there had been at least 60 cases of copper theft in the NT in the past 12 months alone, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars lost.

"Over the last three to four years, the instances of copper theft has increased," Detective Senior Sergeant Rob Jordan said.

"Some of it comes from businesses and there's a few occasions where it's come from underground.

"A lot of it is occurring in the rural area, and that makes things more difficult for us because it's a lot of ground to cover and there's a lot less people around to witness it and give us evidence."

Detective Senior Sergeant Rob Jordan says he expects businesses would embrace laws cracking down on copper theft. ( ABC News: Rani Hayman )

A worldwide problem

He said illegitimate scrap metal companies which bought copper and other scrap metals for cash were part of the problem.

Police said they were working with the NT Attorney-General and Justice Department to change or create new legislation to regulate the scrap metal industry.

The new laws could mirror those introduced by the Victorian Government last year, banning cash for scrap metal, Senior Sergeant Jordan said.

The laws, which are also active in New South Wales, expanded search and entry powers for police, allowing them to enter business and storage premises without a warrant.

Police want metal recycling businesses to be compelled to have security or CCTV cameras in their sales area, plus request the photo identification of those selling the metal. Police would like the power to enter and examine companies' records.

"There's some big companies out there who want to be socially responsible, so I can't imagine them being too resistant to any of the legislation changes," Senior Sergeant Jordan said.

China is thought to be driving the demand for copper. ( ABC News: Rani Hayman )

One of the NT's main metal recycling services has pledged its support for possible legislative changes.

"Of the eight yards we have around the country, this is only yard left paying cash … we would certainly support it," Morgan Parker, director of Sell & Parker Metal Recycling Services, said.

"It's been a problem around the world and various states and countries around the world introduced measures to try to combat those.

"It's hard, it tarnishes the industry; we would support any measures that could make it tougher for the thieves."

Demand driven by China, recycling service says

Mr Parker said copper remained one of the highest-value scrap metals worldwide due to its versatility.

"It's just very hard to mine these days, so a lot of the copper mines are [finding it] harder and harder to extract the copper," he said.

"It's obviously driven by the demand out of China — there's a lot of demand for electrical products out of there and there's just a bit of a shortage of copper out in the market," he said.

He said the best quality "bright shiny copper" would be worth about $6 per kilo, while cables were worth $1 to 2 per kilogram, depending on the copper content.

A spokesman for the NT Government said the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice was developing a statutory regime for the regulation of second-hand copper trading.

"A range of potential options are currently under consideration and discussions are ongoing with relevant stakeholders including Licensing NT, Police and operators within the industry to identify the best way forward to address all aspects of this issue," he said.