A South Auckland councillor is angry and disappointed by suspected arson attacks on cellphone towers in his ward.
Three cellphone towers in Auckland have been damaged so far this week. [file pic] Photo: 123RF
Police are investigating after two fires in Ōtāhuhu and Favona in the early hours of this morning.
Towers were also damaged in Māngere earlier this week and another in Papatoetoe late last month.
Manukau ward councillor Alf Filipaina says people have been ringing him about the damage.
"That's so wrong. I guarantee that the people who are vandalising these cell towers know this but they don't care.
"That's what concerns me. People won't be able to ring [in an] emergency."
Telecommunications Forum chief executive Geoff Thorn says the suspected attacks were putting people's lives at risk.
Thorn said if cellphone towers were damaged, people might not be able to make emergency calls or connect with work, family and friends.
There have been reports of attacks against 5G towers internationally due to widely debunked conspiracy theories linking telecommunications technology to illness.