Using 4x4s with false number plates, they spent nine months targeting rural areas in England and Wales.
They broke open manhole covers, cut and dragged out BT Openreach cable running miles underground, then winched it on to a vehicle.
Billy Lee Jnr, 24, Levi Lee, 22, Samuel Sheady-Jones, 23, and Ashley Byford, 26, caused a £750,000-plus loss to BT and other victims including families and businesses.
The gang homed in on cable and plant material in Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Wrexham.
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