‘NCC should deploy requisite technology to cage call masking than decrying losses’
Telecoms industry pundits have advised the regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to liaise with reputable telecoms security firm either in Nigeria or aboard to come up with applications or innovative technologies that will stamp out incidences of call masking in the country.
The experts who spoke to Business Hilights in Lagos at the end of the year forum organized by the media house, said time has come when NCC should stop complaining all the time on the dangers of call masking when it can effectively find solution seamlessly.
Dr. Jeremiah Undu, an internet security expert said “For every telecoms challenge, there is a way out everywhere in the world. What it demands is official will power and readiness to face it; it will be handled”.
“There are excess technologies to effectively track call masking. All NCC needs to do is to find them and deploy; case closed,” Dr. Undu averred.
In his Goodwill Message, the founder/Publisher of Business Hilights, Prince Stan Okenwa, said “Media activities in the passing year 2018 have been very eventful and assured millions of followers that 2019 will be better as the company is working on upgrading the platform to meet emerging technology innovations.”
“We at Business Hilights will continue to deliver strategic coverage of critical businesses so as to give leveraging facts and figures to the Nigerian and global business communities.
It would be recalled that Prof Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman of NCC, had dropped the hint on rising call masking crisis at the 86th Edition of Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP), entitled: “Overcoming Challenges of Call Masking/Refiling: Task Ahead for the Telecom Industry in Abuja.
Danbatta, who spoke through the Executive Commissioner Stakeholders management, Sunday Dare, noted that globally $54-$60 is lost to call masking but added that the Commission is taking proactive measures to curb the menace.
Dare revealed that “We don’t have the exact figures for Nigeria but globally $54-$60 is lost to call masking. This shows that it is a global menace which is not specific to Nigeria and it is possible because of innovative technology that is available.
“We talk about the VIOP which is Voice Over Internet Protocol, we talk about the OTT; Over The Top platforms where you do WhatsApp and all other video calls. These are innovations and technologies that allows for some of this to happen.”
“But we are happy to say for the last eight months, the NCC took very proactive measures, through investigations, we worked with our taskforce to have been able to reduce the incidence of sim boxing in this country by 34 per cent.
