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Tag: Telecoms Infrastructure

  • NCC urges CSOs to safeguard telecoms infrastructure in Nigeria

    NCC urges CSOs to safeguard telecoms infrastructure in Nigeria

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called for the support of Civil Society Organisations to help safeguard telecommunications infrastructure in the country.

    The Executive Vice-Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta said this during the 2023 Youth, Civil Society and Stakeholders Summit on Curbing the Destruction and Vandalisation of Telecom and other Critical National Infrastructure in Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.

    Danbatta, represented by Mr . Chukuma Nwaiwu, Head, Wireless Network, NCC, said the Commission receive reports of telecom infrastructure vandalisation from the telecom companies.

    He said these acts impact on the delivered quality of services and the availability of the digital platforms.

    According to him, some of the impacts includ:”Disruption of the network services and disconnection of digital platforms.

    “Congestion of alternative backup routes/networks. Interruption of social and economy activities, loss of revenue.

    “Ripple effects on other networks and network elements. Delay in network recovery.”

    On the upcoming general elections, Danbatta, said that technology would play a crucial and key role in delivering free and fair elections to Nigerians.

    He said that NCC was collaborating with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that election results were transmittecd electronically as required by law.

    Danbatta said: “We all have a duty to protect the national telecom infrastructure as such to benefit from the dividends of democracy and good governance.

    “The youth and CSOs as  critical stakeholders in the development process of any society have  dutest o educate the public of the importance of protecting telecom infrastructure located in their immediate vicinity.

    “The NCC and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are collaborating to protect telecom infrastructure as a critical national asset and have signed an MoU n this regard.”

    He called on Nierians to join hands in protecting the national telecom infrastructure for the benefit of all.

    The Deputy President, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Musa Mohammed, said vandalising critically national infrastructure can only come from insensitivity, indiscipline and unpatriotic individuals.

    Mohammed said these individuals do not see the good intentions of the government towards making necessary provisions for the country.

    He urged CSOs to put all hands on the deck to work with security agencies to ensure that the vandals were reported and prosecuted accordingly.

    “Willful damage of roads, rail tracks and other critical infrastructure in our country is not only an act of wickedness, but an act of disregard for the country’s infrastructure.

    “We must all rise to fight against vandalism of national infrastructure because the damaging effects does not only affect an individual but all of us,” he urged.

    Earlier, the Director-General of National Council for Civil Society (NCCS) Mr Johnny Emmanuel, said the role of civil society in infrastructural development should not be undermined.

    Emmanuel said that the NCCS intended to train over 20,000 youth in each state to become volunteers to  access and monitor the state of vandalism across the country by working with security agencies.

    He urged the government, especially the national assembly to put it into law by enacting a bill of National Infrastructure Protection Trust Fund.

    “As law abiding citizens, it is our responsibility to telecom, power and other critical infrastructure within our environment and take ownership of it.

    “If you partner with the civil society, we will be able to create what we call civil society anti-vandal volunteers.

    “We intend to train over 20,000 youth in each state to become volunteers,” Emmanuel said.

  • Danbatta urges Nigerians to protect telecoms infrastructure

    Danbatta urges Nigerians to protect telecoms infrastructure

    The Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC)of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta says Nigerians have a duty to protect telecommunications infrastructure in the country.

    Danbatta said any vandalism made by individuals affects the quality of telecommunications services from service providers.

    He made this known at the 2022 edition of Youth, Civil Society and Stakeholders summit on Thursday in Abuja.

    The summit was on curbing the disruption and vandalism of telecoms, power, oil and gas, marine, railway, education, health and other critical infrastructure in Nigeria during elections.

    The EVC, who was represented by Head, Corporate Communications, NCC, Nnnenna Ukaoha, called for collective action by the youth and community leaders to safeguard critical infrastructure from possible attacks.

    He said this would sustain investors’ confidence and economic growth, adding that communication and connectivity were enablers to all sectors of life.

    ‘‘Communication and connectivity are now rights to every citizen and when you disrupt infrastructure, you are disrupting quality of experience and quality of service.

    “What we are saying to Nigerians is to take ownership of infrastructure protection, because, if you vandalise it, it will affect quality of your life, business and everything.

    ‘‘It can even go to reduce poverty in our society, especially with young people.

    “With internet connectivity, your computer can do so many things and turn your life around within seconds.

    “Please take ownership of communication of infrastructure within your environment so that your life will improve, it will help cub poverty in rural and urban centres,’’ he said.

    In his remarks, the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Usman Baba, said the force had engaged in series of trainings and execution of strategies to curb incidence of infrastructure vandalism in the country.

    Baba, who was represented by Deputy Inspector-General (DIG), in charge of Counter-Terrorism Unit, Mr Iwo Nemi, called for citizens’ cooperation to tackle the menace.

    ‘The I-G said: ‘We have a role to play, first we engage in pre-during and after election.

    “We have been making efforts to ensure peace. We need information, technology and support of the media to make sure we protect the critical national infrastructure.

    ‘‘Security is not for police alone, we need information from people to be able to work effectively. If you see something, say something.

    “Policing is for everybody and it is local. Those who vandalise the critical infrastructure are our brothers and sister.”

    Baba urged Nigerians to help the police with relevant information and “let us work on them.

    ‘‘We had series of seminars and workshops where police officers were trained on election management.

    “We have done it in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun and we are ready to improve on whatever success we have recorded,” he said.

    Earlier, the Director-General for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria, Mr Emmanuel Johnny said the roundtable was organised to mobilise stakeholders to create synergy.

    Johnny, who was also the convener of the summit said the program was towards the protection of critical national infrastructure against vandalism, particularly during the forthcoming elections.

    He urged politicians to set their priorities right and ensure they do not sponsor the youth to spoil critical infrastructure.

    “Having observed that numerous infrastructure put in place by Federal Government in harnessing the resources of our nation and in attaining economic growth and development.

    “We as patriotic Nigerians, feel it is our civic responsibility to mobilise stakeholders and CSOs to see how we can synergise towards the protection of this critical national infrastructure against vandalism and destruction, particularly during these coming elections.

    ‘‘We are advising politicians to set their priority very right and do not disrupt infrastructure, focus on their campaign, not to sponsor the youth to spoil critical infrastructure during elections.

    ‘‘From here, we are moving zone by zone, state by state to create synergy with traditional and youth leaders.

    “We are calling on people to report any vandalisation in their area,” he said.

    Jonny called on the National Assembly to create National Infrastructure Trust Fund, to help government raise funds with support from companies to protect and maintain these infrastructure.

    He also called for the establishment of a commission to look after the National Critical Infrastructure.

    “We feel government alone cannot do this without the support of the private sector, ”he added.

  • Drop calls: Airtel seeks inclusion of Telecoms infrastructure on CNI as vandalisations increase

    Airtel Nigeria has blamed the rising rate of telecoms drop calls on infrastructure vandalism and insurgency across networks, calling on the federal government to urgently deal with the menace of vandalism, insecurity and insurgency in order to address the current spate of dropped calls experienced by most telecommunications subscribers.

    The telecoms company made the call yesterday in Lagos, while addressing journalists about its travails in providing telecoms services to Nigerians.

    The Director of Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Emeka Oparah, noted that the declaration of telecoms infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure by the government would go a long way in helping to safeguard telecoms infrastructure as Airtel alone recorded 1,022 cases of fibre cuts between July 2019 and February 11, 2020.

    According to him, 405 cases of the fibre cuts were as a result of road rehabilitation activities by construction workers, while 617 cases were due to vandalism.

    Oparah pleaded government to come to the aid of telecoms operators as these activities have resulted in dropped calls, poor network quality, network congestion and poor user experience for telecommunications subscribers across the country.

    He also urged the federal and state governments to hasten the approval process for right of way for fibre deployment as well as quicken the Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) approval process, noting that these actions would help solve the problem of network congestion and network failure.

    Vice President, Network Operations, Airtel Nigeria, Dr. Adedoyin Adeola, explained that telecoms installations across the country were repeatedly vandalised, stolen, bombed and destroyed, thus creating myriad of problems for the network operators as well as the telecommunication consumers.

    “Telecoms operators are plagued with so many problems, ranging from security issues to illegal signal boosters. While a network provider is working hard to restore a fibre cut due to vandalism or activities of road construction workers, it also has to deal with illegal signal boosters, which interfere with network quality and operated by unlicensed operators.

    “Then, all operators would have to wait endlessly for right of way approvals, EIA approvals and other approvals. Also, telecoms installations are huge targets for thieves who cart away inverter batteries, generators, diesels in addition to other daily and long standing problems of multiple taxation, community issues, among others,” he said.

    Adeola also highlighted the efforts telcos are making to remedy the situation despite the harsh operating climate, stating that steps are being taken to improve surveillance across telecoms fibre routes; proactively engage with construction companies and communities; and enlisting the support of security agencies to access sites/telecoms infrastructure in flash points or troubled areas, among many others.

    He called on the government to urgently declare fibre routes as critical National Assets, contain the security challenges country-wide and improve public power availability and quality.