http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201104011564117

Political parties and individuals hoping to use telephone text messages to check electoral malpractices or relate on other election matters may be in for a shock as strong indications emerged on Thursday that the services of GSM operators might be restricted on election days (April 2, 9 and 16).


Our correspondent learnt that it was the thinking of the Federal Government that mobile telephone calls and text messages on the general elections should be restricted during the polls.


Sources said that government’s fears over possible abuse of mobile telephones on the days of the polls informed a meeting between security chiefs and the GSM operators in Abuja recently.


The meeting, which was at the behest of the Nigerian Communications Commission, deliberated on how to contain the possible spread of unverified results or other messages capable of increasing tension during the elections.


An integrated network of security for the elections, according to our source, was constituted by the security chiefs drawn from the military, the Police, the State Security Service and the office of the National Security Adviser.


The National Council of State had on Wednesday okayed the deployment of military on the streets to deal with thugs and other miscreants who might want to breach public peace during the elections.


The Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, confirmed THE PUNCH findings on Thursday in Abuja, during an interactive session the Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. Labaran Maku, had with journalists on the general elections.


“The NCC and security chiefs have already invited network operators and, as we are talking, measures are being put in place. The networks are so large and connected to the international community. These things (unwholesome text messages) cannot be stopped overnight,” Juwah said.


He assured that something was being done, but warned that telephone or text exchanges might be difficult to control.


Earlier, Maku, had expressed the displeasure of the government over the circulation of what he described as “unwholesome messages” through the mobile networks and, therefore, asked the NCC, the industry regulator to check the menace.


He said journalists and the GSM networks could constitute greater danger to the electoral process than religious fundamentalists.


The NSA, Gen. Owoye Azazi, had on Wednesday in Abuja expressed similar concerns on the reportage of the elections in an interactive session with the media. He urged that “national interest” should be above other considerations.


Maku, therefore, warned foreign journalists that had been accredited to cover the elections against picking their stories from local newspapers that he accused of aligning themselves with different political interests in the country.


The minister said, “In every election, security agents estimate threats that can be a problem to the election. There are no known threats that can disrupt the nation’s election.


“We have isolated cases of religious fundamentalism in Borno State, but there is no threat to the elections. The parties have concluded their campaigns in these places without any incidence.


“In fact, the only threat we fear is sensational reporting. If reports go wrong, they can threaten an election. A fundamentalist can disrupt election in one place but a reporter can disrupt election in the whole country.


“I am worried by the role played so far by telecommunications networks. Attacks are carried out daily through the networks without control. The NCC should meet with the heads of telecoms companies.”


An information technology expert who spoke with our correspondent confirmed that the GSM operators have the ‘functionality’ to restrict text messages or calls through their networks.


According to him, a ‘functionality’ such as text messaging can just be switched off.


“When that is done, it will affect everybody on the network. However, it can also be done on selective basis. Networks also have the capacity to screen text messages before allowing them to go to the recipients. However, these must be for numbers that are already on the watch of security agents,” he said.


The expert, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said blanket restriction would amount to taking actions that are only common in police states.


He added that because of competition, private operators were not likely to agree to such a measure since it had the capacity of limiting customers on their networks.


Apart from text messaging originating from mobile phones, advancement in information technology has made it possible for subscribers to originate and send messages to mobile phones through the Internet.


Sending text messages through the Internet could be cheaper and more convenient since bulk messages can be sent to hundreds and thousands of recipients simultaneously and even anonymously.


The Federal Government had in recent times been worried over the rising rate of technology-assisted crimes in the country.


Only on Monday, the NCC inaugurated the registration of Subscriber Identity Module cards and set a deadline of September 28 for the exercise to be completed.


The rationale is that if the owner of each SIM card in the country is known, it would be easy to trace any crime committed with the aid of a phone to a person.


THE PUNCH had recently reported that a total of 114.63m telecommunications lines had been connected as at the end of January, confirming the huge potential of the Nigerian telecommunications network as asserted by the NCC boss.


However, the total number of active lines, including mobile and fixed lines, by the end of January stood at 89.84 million.


In segmented terms, the number of connected GSM lines by the end of January stood at 96,547,864 lines, while active lines stood at 82,618,510.


The number of connected mobile lines offered by Code Division Multiple Access operators stood at 12,338,686, while active lines stood at 6,186,442. Out of a total of 2,741,983 fixed lines that were connected, 1,035,391 were active.


With the ubiquity of mobile phones and users, observers of the general elections say it would be easy for everyone at each polling booth to broadcast the result of the centre without having to wait for INEC to collate all the results.


The National Broadcasting Commission had warned recently that it was wrong for anyone to announce election result without a final word from INEC.

soldee:


Political parties and individuals hoping to use telephone text messages to check electoral malpractices or relate on other election matters may be in for a shock as strong indications emerged on Thursday that the services of GSM operators might be restricted on election days (April 2, 9 and 16).


Our correspondent learnt that it was the thinking of the Federal Government that mobile telephone calls and text messages on the general elections should be restricted during the polls.

This claim was refuted on the NTA Network News of April 1, 2011.