Telecom companies in Nigeria have set up an Industry Working Group to drive the protection of their infrastructure across the country.
This comes as a response to the rising cases of fibre cuts, equipment theft, and vandalization of telecom infrastructure.
According to a statement from the operators, the Working Group was formed during a high-level meeting of stakeholders in the telecommunications industry, including regulators and law enforcement agencies, hosted by IHS Nigeria at its corporate headquarters in Lagos.
Recognizing the importance of communications infrastructure as the backbone of national security, economic growth and social cohesion, the stakeholders at the meeting convened under the umbrella of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) agreed on the urgent need for collaborative solutions to ensure the protection of these vital assets.
Functions of the Working Group
The statement noted that the working group is dedicated to addressing key industry challenges, including the vandalization and theft of telecommunications infrastructure, arbitrary shutdown of base stations, fiber cuts due to road construction and the denial of access by unauthorized individuals.
The Group is leveraging technology for real-time monitoring and protection, strengthening security measures around telecommunication sites.
They are also expected to work in collaboration with security and regulatory agencies to mitigate these challenges.
The meeting highlighted the importance of public awareness campaigns to sensitize the host communities and public of the need to protect telecommunications infrastructure in their localities.
The need for infrastructure protection
While commending the decision of the telecom stakeholders in setting up the Working Group, Senior Vice President & Chief Corporate Services Officer of IHS Nigeria, Dapo Otunla, said:
“The protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) has been a critical concern for all industry stakeholders.
“We are experiencing daily losses of assets, which significantly impact on the quality of service delivered to subscribers.
“Addressing these issues is paramount to sustaining Nigeria’s digital ecosystem and meeting regulatory expectations.”
What you should know
The moves by the telecom operators could be seen as moves to drive the implementation of the government’s CNII policy by themselves.
In August last year, President Bola Tinubu signed an official gazette designating telecom infrastructure as critical national information infrastructure and making it a criminal offence for anyone to wilfully destroy such infrastructure in the country.
According to the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, the gazette, ‘Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure Order, 2024’, is a significant step that would strengthen and protect investments in the ICT sector.
However, that was not the first time such a declaration would be made. In June 2020, the immediate past Minister of Communications, Dr. Isa Panatami, announced a similar action by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Pantami, Buhari approved and also directed that those necessary physical protective measures be put in place to safeguard telecommunications infrastructure deployed across the country.
That pronouncement failed to have any impact as vandalism of the infrastructure has remained a daily occurrence across the country to date.
