PROTECTION OF TELECOMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE

1. PROTECTION OF TELECOMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE BY DR. B. M. SANI DIRECTOR, TECHNICAL STANDARD AND NETWORK INTEGRITY February 14, 2013

2. TELECOM CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE • Some of the critical Telecom Infrastructures include; • CORE NETWORK EQUIPMENTS (Switches, gateways) • RADIO RESOURCES (BTS, BSC) • TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURES (Fiber cables, microwave radios)

3. SECURITY CHALLENGES • Threat to Telecom Infrastructures can be viewed in two ways; • Man made • Natural Disaster

4. Man made Security Challenges • In the Nigerian Environment, the following Man Made challenges are prevalent; • Criminal Vandalization • Destructions due to road constructions • Theft • Community Interference • Interference by other government agencies

5. Vandalization of Telecom Facilities • Over 1000 cases of vandalisation are being reported annually by operators across the country. • Over 500 BTS sites have been reported burnt down in the Northern part of Nigeria due to insecurity especially in Borno, Yobe, Kano, Adamawa and Kaduna • The act of vandalisation is affecting infrastructures of all operators.

6. Destructions Due to Road Constructions • Operators have reported over 1200 cases of fiber cut due to road constructions across the country. • There are prevalent cases of fiber cut by criminals

7. Theft of Telecom Facilities • Some Operators are loosing at least one generator a day • Theft of parts of generators especially the AVR • Theft of diesel from the generators • Theft of Fiber Cables

8. Community Interference • Communities in some parts of Nigeria have also constituted a security challenge • There are cases of communities demanding carton of beers, goats, colanuts, etc from operators before being allowed to construct BTS sites. • Threats by Area Boys in some locations.

9. Interference by Other Government Agencies • Interference from agencies such as NESREA by sealing BTS sites • Interference from States and Local Government on laying of fiber cables for transmission backbones in their jurisdiction. Right of Way • Closing down of the services of a specific services provider’s network in a state

10. Security Challenges Due Natural Disaster • Recent Flood across the country has destroyed hundreds of BTS sites and some other critical Telecom infrastructures.

11. Consequences • These security challenges either Man made or Natural disaster have adverse effect on the service provision such as: • Network Outage • Poor Quality of Service • Loss of Revenue by Operators • Loss of Jobs • Loss of Human lives in some instances

12. Efforts made by the NCC to protect infrastructure and ensure improvement in Quality of Services • NCC in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications Technology is drafting a bill for the National Assembly to declare Telecom facilities as “Critical National Infrastructure” • The Commission is also collaborating with the office of the National Security Adviser to work out modalities for securing and protecting Telecom facilities across the country. • The Commission is also embarking on public awareness campaign to educate the populace

13. Efforts made by the NCC to protect infrastructure and ensure improvement in Quality of Services • The NCC will soon complete emergency communication centers in all parts of the country to assist in enforcing the law.

14. Thank you