Recently, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) announced plans to commence the process of registration of mobile phone users especially those on the popular pre-paid plan who use Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Cards that are hawked like pure water on the streets and roadsides across the nation. This move, according to the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Ernest C. Ndukwe, was necessitated by the increasing frequency with which mobile phones are being deployed in criminal activities. Already an all-inclusive committee comprising representatives of the NCC, Telecom Operators, INEC, National Identity Card Management Agency, National Population Commission, the media, security agencies and SIM Card dealers has been set up to work out modalities for the exercise and to design a time frame for it’s implementation.

Until the deregulation of the communication sector and the introduction of Global Systems for Mobile (GSM) technology during the Obasanjo era, owning a telephone line in Nigeria was a big headache. To successfully subscribe to a line was a harrowing experience because the available lines were grossly inadequate for the teeming prospective subscribers. While those that had no phone lines had to queue up at NITEL business offices to make their domestic and international calls, those who had lines had to contend with phantom bills, malfunctioning lines and the legendary discourtesy of NITEL staff. Keeping a line in working condition meant arranging for ladder, wire, and all what not and following some short-tempered NITEL technician all over the city before getting him to, reluctantly, accept to fix a problem that ought to have been fixed without fuss ab initio.

 The GSM put paid to all that and, suddenly, NITEL offices that used to buzz with hordes of subscribers suddenly became like ghost houses. The staff that used to strut around like tolo-tolo now know better. But unlike conventional phone lines that required filling of forms and provision of valid identification as a precondition for subscription, the SIM-cards which powered GSM lines were sold across the counters and hawked on the streets. Not only was a lie put to the infamous declaration made in his days as Federal Minister of Communications by David Mark who presently sits as President of the Senate that “telephones were not for the poor”, the GSM proved so popular with the Nigerian masses that within a few years of it’s introduction, the teledensity had spiralled to nearly half of the population.

Alongside the legitimate uses to which it has been put, some Nigerians have found that GSM phones could be used for such sneaky acts as cheating and lying. It is not unusual to hear a subscriber in Lagos screaming “I am in Abuja ” into the mouthpiece of his phone. For the fun-loving boys and girls, mobile phones are the ultimate tool of infidelity and monkey business. Tricksters have also found that the mobile gives quick access to prospective victims. Scammers, extortionists and kidnappers have also transformed the innocuous mobile handset into a weapon of harassment and criminal offensive. Today, apprehension is widespread in the polity over the ease with which mobile phones are used to commit all manner of crimes from slander to extortion. And all this because the user of a prepaid card being unregistered is usually covered with a veil of anonymity.

By allowing users to be anonymous, mobile phones tend to provide cover for criminal users. Still, to register the users of prepaid mobile phones may be said to be an invasion of the privacy rights of subscribers who desire privacy for legitimate purposes or simply by personal preference or who consider the anonymity which it provides to be the unique selling point of prepaid phones. So what is the way out? Technology is about problems and solutions. How can mobile phones aid the promotion of public security and welfare rather than hinder it? How can mobile phones help the police to detect crime? How can a handset communicate it’s whereabout to the police? How can handsets aid the collection of forensic data? How can criminal use of mobile phones be reduced? How may innocent children who are provided with mobile phones by concerned parents and who may easily give out information to callers unmindful of the dangers to themselves be protected? 

Mobile phone crime can effectively be tackled with cooperation between the providers, the regulator, the legislators, the executive and the users themselves. Already, GSM service providers and network operators are able to block stolen SIM-cards but not handsets. In some countries, handset manufacturers and network operators have already made considerable progress in tackling mobile phone snatching - by blocking 80 per cent of stolen handsets within 48 hours. For technology not to become a burden, it must keep ahead of it’s negative consequences. Mobile phones must be designed to stay ahead of the evil designs of criminals. The same powerful blend of imagination and technical expertise used in creating today's exciting devices need to be applied to the problem of phone crime. Some countries that already have or are contemplating SIM-card registers include Australia , France , Germany , Hungary , Japan , Norway , Switzerland and South Africa . This underscores the global importance which has come to be attached to the mobile phone as an indispensable social and economic accessory.

Between 1978 when the first commercial mobile phone service was launched in Japan by NTT to the end of 2007, it was estimated that the total number of mobile phone subscriptions in the world exceeded 3.3 billion – that is about half of the human population. However, that includes users with multiple or inactive subscriptions. This makes the mobile phone the most widespread technology and the handset the most common hand-held gadget in the world. Of this, China has close to 700 million active mobile phone accounts majority of whom use prepaid cards; India has up to 260 million mobile phone users; Britain has close to 70 million mobile phone users; and Brazil has over 120 million mobile phone users two thirds of whom are on the pre paid package. With a population of 20 million people, Sri Lanka has 12 million telephone subscribers out of which 10 million are mobile phone users; Kenya has 11 million subscribers; and Nigeria is reputed to have up to 50 million SIM-cards circulating among 140m citizens.

With such high global teledensity, the proposed nationwide registration of all prepaid mobile phone users deserves to be taken seriously because of its potential for putting a leash on criminal activities committed with the use of mobile phones.

uchebush@yahoo.com; 0805 1090 050

Robot  Villager

# 1 Recently, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) announced plans to commence the process of...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 17.08.2008 23:28

10Kobo  Villager

# 2 Good questions and thanks for bringing this up. =Uche>Alongside the legitimate uses to which it has been put, some Nigerians have found that GSM phones could be used for such sneaky acts as cheating and lying. It is not unusual to hear a subscriber in Lagos screaming “I am in Abuja ” into the mouthpiece of his phone. For the fun-loving boys and girls, mobile phones are the ultimate tool of infidelity and monkey business. Tricksters have also found that the mobile gives quick access to prospective victims. Scammers, extortionists and kidnappers have also transformed the innocuous mobile handset into a weapon of harassment and criminal offensive. Today, apprehension is widespread in the polity over the ease with which mobile phones are used to commit all manner of crimes from slander to extortion. And all this because the user of a prepaid card being unregistered is usually covered with a veil of anonymity. That is the Naija in us, for you! Take advantage of any situation and *******ize the technology! But all hope is not lost. Can we say that because one can register "anonymously" register on the NVS has led to increase in crime on this blog-site? Anonymity has noting to do with it, it is our ineptness and tendency to "corrupt every good thing" that should be under scrutiny. In a nation noted for its legendary carelessness, collecting the "data" of millions of Nigerians is to create another "booty" fro scammers to harvest wih ease. Abeegi o, not my details! By allowing users to be anonymous, mobile phones tend to provide cover for criminal users. Still, to register the users of prepaid mobile phones may be said to be an invasion of the privacy rights of subscribers who desire privacy for legitimate purposes or simply by personal preference or who consider the anonymity which it provides to be the unique selling point of prepaid phones. So what is the way out? Technology is about problems and solutions. How can mobile phones aid the promotion of public security and welfare rather than hinder it? How can mobile phones help the police to detect crime? How can a handset communicate it’s whereabout to the police? This process is called “Triangulation”. It is no rocket-science and Police all over the world have been using it, in collaboration with Network providers. But me and you know that our NPF is made-up of illiterate-hoodlums, to put it mildly, they are rarely interested in such knowledge except it can be used as a further tool of aiding bribery and “toll-gate” collection :D Needless to say, the “Mobile” Phone has been a revolutionary invention in the areas of communication, crime-fighting and prevention, accident and emergency recovery, e.t.c. What we need to continue o research is how we can live with the “positives of a technology” while finding ways of mitigating against its negatives and clamping down on those who are bent on “abusing” it for their selfish ends. Invasion of privacy or encroachment of users right is not the way to go….as we speak now, anyone can work into any shop in the advanced countries (any shop, not street hawking O!) an buy a SIM, “Pay-as-You-Go” without even showing your hand! No one will force you to do that because they have a trained crime-fighting outfit (Security Services) that is loaded with professionals from various fields (not just some ill-baked Lawyers as in the Nigerian situation) that are always trying to “improve and develop| their kills so as o be one-step ahead of criminals. Proper funding and innate-corruption among the Police hierarchy are two factors working against our Police force. Just my opinion. 10Kobo Posted by 10Kobo| 18.08.2008 14:49