- Strengthens ties with Galaxy Backbone on Digital Connectivity
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has said that the Commission is coming up with an awareness project which is aimed at sensitising the Nigerian child on the safe use of the Internet.
Also the Commission (NCC) which visited the headquarters of Galaxy Backbone Limited in Abuja on Tuesday has committed to strengthen inter-agency synergy and collaboration towards deepening connectivity for businesses and public institutions in the country.
Danbatta remark made his remarks on child online protection at a workshop organised by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in collaboration with the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI). The DBI is a training institute established by the NCC in 2004 and an ITU Centre of Excellence to bridge the skills gap in the Nigerian telecom sector.
According to the EVC the Internet has become an indispensable element of everyday life and children are not excluded but particularly vulnerable to its disadvantages because young persons constitute the largest users of the Internet.
“Subsequently, as a result of the ubiquitous availability of Internet access in homes, schools, libraries, mobile phones and so on, children are increasingly becoming involved in the use of new technological applications and taking advantage of the opportunity they provide for learning, research, and entertainment,” he said.
Danbatta explained that as a follow-up to several initial efforts made in adopting the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) guidelines on Child Online Protection, the Commission developed a draft Nigerian Child Online Protection Policy (NCOPP).
The EVC said the NCOPP will be further reviewed taking into consideration the evolving global technology and practices in the cyber space as well as develop the revised National Child Online Protection document which will comprise of a Policy, Strategy and Action Plan.
Danbatta further stated that the sensitisation campaign the Commission is embarking on seeks to, amongst other things, enhance safety online so Nigerian children can competitively engage one another in productive and guided interactions, enable the provision of a safe and secured cyber space for Nigerian digital citizens, along with promoting positive use and experience from the Internet for children and young people, as well as provide regional advocacy and awareness for Nigerian Child Online Protection Policy and recommend safety measures.
The sensitisation campaign will also provide regional awareness incorporating local languages and cultural norms; share knowledge and experience while facilitating international strategic partnerships to define and implement concrete initiatives as well as increase the understanding of child online safety among government, industry, educators and civil society organisations.
Odunayo Sanya, General Manager, Planning and Customer Management, MTN, a partner in organising the workshop, emphasise the necessity to balance the benefits of the Internet with pitfalls. She charged parents, regulators, service providers and government to work earnestly and collaboratively to achieve that.
“Understanding how to traverse the potential pitfalls online and shield our children from cybercrime are critical skills today, much less for the future workforce. To be successful in securing future success, government, regulators, service providers, and parent teachers associations need to work together to create the much-needed controls, awareness, and education for the protection of our children online,” Sanya said.
Strengthens Ties With Galaxy Backbone
Also Danbatta who led NCC team, compromising senior management staff of the Commission, on a tour of a Tier III National Data Centre built by Galaxy Backbone in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja said that the Commission has, so far, facilitated the building of 42,000 kilometer of fibre links across the country inclusive of some 4,000 kilometre built by Galaxy Backbone, which is a licensee of the NCC.
He however, said that while the Federal Government plans to achieve 127,000 kilometre of fibre across the country in its Next Level agenda, the licensing of Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos), the capital expenditure (CAPEX) they are going to make and the counterpart funding to be provided by the Commission would create additional 30,000 kilometre of fibre, bringing total fibre laid in the country to 72,000 kilometre in the next few years.
While stating that counterpart funding would be provided by the Commission to InfraCo licensees upon attainment of deployment milestones in their respective geo-political zones, Danbatta said “the InfraCo project is a project of profound transformational significance and we are positive that the role being played by Galaxy Backbone in fibre deployment and other infrastructure build will complement the Commission’s efforts towards fast-tracking the achievement of the target of 127,000 kilometre of fibre by the current administration.”
Danbatta, who restated the commitment of the NCC in ensuring pervasive broadband availability, accessibility and affordability in the country, affirmed that the visit to Galaxy Backbone was conceived in the spirit of engendering increased synergy among the various agencies under the coordination of the Minister of Communications, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami
Meanwhile, Yusuf Kazaure, Chief Executive Officer, Galaxy Backbone, who conducted the EVC and his team to strategic locations within the data centre facility, including the Network Operating Centre (NOC), National Shred Services Centre (NSSC), Telepresence Room, Data Centre Room and the Power Room, appreciated the Commission for the visit, saying it is timely and promising.
“As Galaxy Backbone, it is a visit we have been yearning for. It is for us to create a synergy as industry agencies towards achieving the mandate of the Ministry of Communications on digital transformation, “ he said.
Kazaure said the Data Centre is a world-class infrastructure of 128 rack spaces, scalable to 512 racks with the latest ISO 2000 certification and manned by well-trained data centre experts to ensure reliability and efficient services.
“Galaxy Backbone has uptime certified Tier III Datacenter within the nation’s public sector. Our primary datacenter is located in Abuja and a secondary datacenter of the same standard in Enugu. In investing in technology infrastructure across the nation is our goal to create robust platform that offers services such as collocation of servers; cloud back-up, cloud storage, virtual machine, disaster recovery, web hosting and content management and security in line with our licensing obligations,” he said.
