Telephone companies, do you want to turn old copper into cash? Here's how.

There are several reasons why a telephone company with legacy copper cables might want to extract those cables. First, copper is valuable. It’s currently priced at an all-time high of more than $5 per pound. And who doesn’t love found money? Secondly, some carriers, such as AT&T, are trying to convert large swathes of their copper plant to fiber. But when conduits are filled with copper, there sometimes isn’t room for fiber. And third, most everyone in the telecom world is aware of the Wall Street Journal story that broke in 2023, revealing that old telecommunications networks in the U.S. still have a lot of copper cables. And a substantial number of these cables are covered in lead sheathing, which can pose health and environmental risks. Fear not! A company called Extracta Group says it has the expertise to remove copper cables from telecom networks, even those covered in lead, and obtain the best market price for the salvaged copper.