By Our Reporter The Nation
Telecom operators, acting under the aegis of Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) have partnered to host a forum to tackle the security challenges facing the telecom industry.
This is coming on the heels of the garnt of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) status to the sector by President Bola Tinubu.
The two groups noted that mere declaration of the CNII order cannot guarantee infrastructure safety except certain internal and standardisation issues are first resolved by operators.
This and other issues will be addressed at forum which will bring stakeholders together to address pertinent issues and questions begging for answers.
Scheduled to hold at CitiHeight Hotel, Ikeja on July 30, 2025, the event, tagged: 鈥淚ndustry Sustainability And CNII Conference 2025 鈥 Way Forward鈥 will gather stakeholders to discuss the practical way forward, noting that passage of the Bill along will not achieve desired results.
According to the organisers, questions that stakeholders will provide answers to at the event include: How do we ensure that this law is implemented to the letter? Are there areas worth looking into once more, or is the Bill perfect as it is? What are the roles of each stakeholder in the industry 鈥 Federal, States, Operators, Consumers, and other actors? Are individual telecom companies and service providers keying into the CNNI provisions, and how?
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Others are: What are the roles of regulators in ensuring public compliance to the order? How do we ensure security? What is the place of collaboration? Publicity: how much of the CNII provisions are the public aware of? And how can we sustain the growth and development of telecommunications in Nigeria?
The Panel Discussion sessions will look into some of the questions arising from industry sustainability and CNII implementation.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, telcos, security agencies, regulators, the media, infrastructure companies and decision makers in private and public firms, among other guests.
鈥淚t is a known fact that the Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) is crucial to the survivability of a nation, and that the destruction or disruption of these systems and communication networks would significantly affect the economic strength, image, defense and security, government capabilities to function, and public health and safety,鈥 NITRA statement stated.
ALTON Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, had in a forum stressed the importance of proper infrastructure maintenance and tech-upgraded installation to prevent vandalism and theft.
He highlighted the widespread issue of stolen manhole covers, fibre cables and poles; community resistance to infrastructure projects; unauthorised installation of infrastructure without government approval; malicious destruction of telecom infrastructure; among other challenges to be curbed.
Chairman of NITRA, Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi, stressed the importance of the confab, noting that industry stakeholders needed to come around a table to broker an understanding on how to secure telecom infrastructure, standing on government鈥檚 proclamation of CNII.
According to the General Secretary of NITRA, Mr. Chidiebere Nwankwo, the forum, which will have other industry Associations also make their inputs, will afford the public an opportunity to share their thoughts, especially as it regards the security of infrastructure in their localities.