Telecommunications Act 1999 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 6 · Offences and Penalties
68. Damage to telecommunication system licensees’ installation or plant
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Any person who wilfully removes, destroys or damages any installation or plant used for telecommunications shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.
installation or plant used for telecommunications
“installation or plant used for telecommunications” includes all buildings, lands, structures, machinery, equipment, cables, poles and lines used or intended for use in connection with telecommunications;
Despite subsection (1), any person who, in the course of carrying out any earthworks, damages or suffers to be damaged any cable of a telecommunication system belonging to or under the management or control of a telecommunication system licensee shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.
earthworks
“earthworks” includes —(a)any act of excavating earth, rock or other material (by whatever means) in connection with —(i)any works for or relating to the construction, reconstruction, extension, renovation, alteration, demolition or repair of any building, road, railway, bridge, viaduct, flyover, sewer or sewage works;(ii)any works for or relating to the laying, inspecting, repairing or renewing of any mains, pipes, cables, fittings or other apparatuses;(iii)any soil investigation works; or(iv)such other works as are usually undertaken by a person carrying on business as a contractor in the construction industry or as a professional civil or structural engineer;(b)any act of boring, dredging, jacking, levelling, piling or tunnelling on or under any premises or street by any mechanical means; and(c)the driving or sinking of any earth rod, casing or tube into the ground;
Where an offence under subsection (2) is committed by any person (called in this subsection the firstmentioned person) acting as the agent or employee of another person (called in this subsection the principal person), or being otherwise subject to the supervision or instructions of another person (also called in this subsection the principal person) for the purposes of any employment in the course of which the offence was committed, the principal person shall, without prejudice to the liability of the firstmentioned person, be liable under that subsection in the same manner and to the same extent as if the principal person had personally committed the offence unless the principal person proves to the satisfaction of the court that the offence was committed without the principal person’s consent or connivance or that it was not attributable to any neglect on the principal person’s part.
In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (2), it is a defence for the person charged to prove that the person took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.
If in any proceedings for an offence under subsection (2) the defence involves acting on information supplied by a telecommunication system licensee or a licensed telecommunication cable detection worker, the person charged is not, without permission of the court, entitled to rely on that defence unless, within a period of 14 clear days before the hearing, the person has served on the prosecutor a written notice giving such information as was then in the person’s possession identifying or assisting in the identification of the telecommunication system licensee or telecommunication cable detection worker.[49
telecommunication system licensee
“telecommunication system licensee” means a person licensed under section 5 to operate a telecommunication system;