Umar Danbatta, the executive vice chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communication Commission ( NCC) said the commission is considering engaging with Starlink to extend connectivity to rural areas in the country.
Danbatta stated this at the 2nd quarter Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF) in Lagos, themed ‘Combatting E-Fraud in telecom platforms: Building consumer confidence in the digital economy’ said making the service affordable will help to close the connectivity gap in the country and make internet connections accessible to rural and underserved areas.
“We recently issued a licence to Starlink a communications Satelite services provider with coverage all over the entire country. We are trying to engage with Starlink to bring the cost of its services down to affordable level so that people in the rural areas can equally benefit from this important intervention. With time, we hope the days of unconnected Nigerians will soon be over with this important deployment of satellite communications services all over the country”.
In his keynote address, the EVC said that, NCC as the regulator of the communications sector has a crucial role to play in combatting e-fraud.
“We must establish comprehensive legal frameworks and standards that mandate sound security practices for telecom operators. The legal framework must focus on data protection, privacy and incident response, ensuring that operators are held accountable for any lapses in security on their respective networks.
“The NCC also type-approves communications equipment to ensure that they conform to global standards and are interoperable with various relevant technologies.
“In this regard, The Commission collaborates with Mobile Network Operators to ensure the safety of their networks and conducts regular audits and assessments to verify compliance and encourage a culture of cybersecurity within the industry”.
The EVC retreated the need for collaboration between Law enforcement Agencies and telecom operators as well as regulators to investigate e-fraud.
“Law Enforcement Agencies must also collaborate closely with telecom operators and regulatory bodies to investigate and prosecute e-fraud perpetrators. Enhanced coordination, information sharing, and dedicated cybercrime units can go a long way in deterring criminals and bringing them to justice.
“Strengthening international cooperation in combating cross-border e-fraud is also imperative, as cybercriminals often exploit jurisdictional limitations.
“The Commission, committed to fulfilling its mandate and passionate about driving Digital Economy in Nigeria, has continued to implement initiatives to Protect, Inform and Educate telecom consumers in this regard.
“Through its Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB), the Commission undertakes constant Consumer Education with a significant part of this effort dedicated to providing information that equips the Consumer to thrive in a world that has embraced digital finance. Information dissemination materials on how to safeguard themselves while using telecom platforms to access digital financial products are available on the NCC consumer portal whilst hardcopies are distributed at consumer outreach events.
According to him, “to further protect telecom consumers, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) periodically notifies telecom consumers of the latest cybersecurity threats and how to avoid falling victim to them.
“NCC-CSIRT in collaboration with the Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT) at the office of the National Security Adviser has been at the forefront of protecting telecom consumers from cyber threats.
“The provision of timely advisories has helped to protect consumers from being unfairly targeted by cyber-attacks, which goes a long way in ensuring that they can access digital services without suffering unwarranted losses. We strongly believe that by fostering a culture of vigilance and knowledge, we can collectively reduce the success rate of e-fraud attempts”.
Also speaking Akpa E. Emeka ICAF Chairman said that the 2023 2nd quarter open forum of the Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF) is aimed to bring e-fraud issue to bear as it affects consumers a great deal.
“In this edition, we intend to propose a new approach on Combatting E-Fraud on the Telecommunication Platforms and ways of Building Consumer Confidence in the Digital Economy and we believe with the retinue of experts here present, we intend to achieve this goal using the current realities of this time to strengthen the core capabilities and improve our abilities to continually identify and address vulnerabilities arising from new fraud methods and patterns”.
