By Seun Adams
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, on Thursday, said the country’s national broadband
penetration or internet access speed is now 33.7 percent.
He made the disclosure at the 88th Stakeholders’ conference tagged Consumer Parliament (TCP), which held in Abuja.
According to the EVC, the annual meeting is held to protect interests, rights and privileges of telecommunications the consumers, create an enabling environment characterised by fair competition among the telecoms service providers and promote a win-win situation among stakeholders.
He said: “As a quarterly programme, we rotate this event between Lagos and Abuja to ensure inclusive and robust engagements between the Western and Northern hemispheres of the country.
“At each edition of the forum, topical, emerging and contemporary issues in the industry as well as issues on concerns of the consumers,Telecom Service Providers and the industry, at large, are chosen for discussion.
“Identified problems are discussed and solutions are proffered for proper implementation.”
He added that the occasion, will also be used to brainstorm on the Challenges of Cybercrime: The Role of the Telecoms Service Providers, which, according to him is one of the contemporary issues confronting stakeholders.
The EVC, admitted that the world is witnessing a paradigm shift in its telecommunication ecosystem with increased demand for intemet/ data services by private individuals, private entities and public institutions.
He said telecoms regulators across the globe constantly find ways, through polices and regulations, to boost access to broadband, which has become an enabler of economic growth.
“This pursuit for increased broadband penetration is particularly being driven by the NCC to bring about the desired level of digital transformation that will positively impact the government,
businesses and individuals to achieve better efficiency and effectiveness in their daily engagements.
“Today, access to the internet/data services by financial services, healthcare, agriculture, oil and gas, transportation, commerce and government has continued to have powerful transformational effect on the economy.” He said.
Danbatta, stated that of the 173.6 million mobile lines across telecommunication networks in the country, 119 million of them are also used by their users to access Internet services, adding that, broadband or high-speed Internet penetration currently stands at 33.7 per cent.
“This translates to over 64.3 million broadband subscriptions, adding that efforts are also ongoing by the commission, the service providers and other necessary stakeholders to more than double the current broadband penetration figure in the next five years.” He said.
According to him, broadband availability, accessibility and affordability to further boost efficiency across broad in the country through putting the internet into positive use, the commission is also conscious of the nefarious tendencies by some unscrupulous elements who deploy Internet to commit all sort of cybercriminal activities, leaving their victims with scars of psychological injuries and financial losses, he added.
On the one hand, he added that mobile internet/broadband, for instance, has positive applications among individuals and across private and public sectors by enabling more efflcient delivery of many services and creating Opportunities to increase workforce productivity.
He said: “On the other hand, while the global business ecosystem is undergoing profound and rapid change, given the penetration of new technologies and the growing interconnection of systems brought about by the Internet, exposure to cybercrime has continued to increase.
“As it is the case in other countries Where access to and demand for broadband are increasing, we must be cognizant of the reality that access to broadband Internet has also brought unintended consequences of cybercrimes.
“Today, different criminal activities such as spamming, Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card frauds, credit card frauds, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) frauds, phishing, identity theft, unauthorised access, distribution of obscene and indecent contents, cyber bullying and other forms of sophisticated cyber-criminal activities are being perpetrated Within the cyberspace.”
The EVC said it is instructive that the cyberspace has become a blossoming haven for cybercriminals to perpetrate their insidious acts which have continued to cost unsuspecting internet users and many organisations billions of naira in lost money and revenue.
He said most times, the main target of cybercrimals is to steal information, passwords or the identity of genuine Internet users for selfish profiteering.
Cybercrimes, he added are threatening individuals and companies all over the world, the risk is even higher for African businesses. Though Africa is relatively limited in terms of communications infrastructure, due to the cost intensive nature of deployment, it is increasingly a target for cybercriminals, as most African countries still have a low level of commitment to cybersecurity.
He said: “Our dialogue today is aimed at discussing how telecoms companies, who own the Internet/broadband infrastructure in the country can adequately secure their networks from cyber attackers, who remain gluttonous for finding ways of wreaking havoc to their networks and servers all for selfish reason, leaving the customers on the networks also susceptible to attacks.
“It is important, therefore, to, once again, charge telecoms service providers to strengthen their cyber-risk protection systems and architecture, just as we expect other non-teleo organisations but Which are clients to telecoms operators to begin to use next generation authentication as against the hitherto username-password authentication system, which is in line with a recommendation by the International telecommunications Union (ITU).
“Beyond all these measures, the commission believes that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) need to educate their consumers on continuous process on how to keep themselves safe while online using data services provided by the mobile networks.
“This is very critical. In fact, while cybercrime has predicted to be more sophisticated as broadband access deepens, continuous enlightenment and education for Internet users has been recognised as a weapon that can be adroitly used to mitigate exposure to cybercrimes.
“The NCC remains committed to protecting the industty from being viciously ravaged by cybercrimes. This drive has informed the ongoing efforts by the commission to establish an Internet Industry Code of Practice in accordance with our mandate to regulate the communications sector in Nigeria, as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.
“The establishment of the Code, which is at its final stage now, Will, among others, outline the obligations of Internet Access Service Providers in relation to the protection of consumers’ personal data and security among others.”
According to him, the code will also complement existing statutes and regulations against cybercriminal activities, especially, the Nigerian Cybercrime Act 2015, in order to make the cyber space much safer for all.