Cell C, Vodacom, MTN SA, Telkom and Liquid Intelligent Technologies have created the Communication Risk Information Centre (COMRiC), a non-profit organisation that seeks to better protect the telcos’ network investments.
COMRiC will primarily focus on the sector’s collective identification, mitigation and prevention of common risk issues within the industry, with a key emphasis for 2022 on critical infrastructure network vandalism, commercial crimes and cyber security.
The unveiling of COMRiC comes on the back of growing cases of vandalism on telecoms infrastructure.
Cell C, Vodacom, MTN SA and Telkom have all been victims of theft and vandalism, which causes disruption of communication services.
This has resulted in the mobile operators losing hundreds of millions of rands over the years, and in some cases, the rate of vandalism and theft, especially multiple repeat incidents, is forcing the operators to abandon base stations due to nonviable replacement costs.
The damage to infrastructure has also been of concern to telecoms regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA).
Last year, ICASA had to approach the National Joint Operations and Intelligence Services to prioritise the safeguarding and protection of this critical telecommunications infrastructure.
COMRiC CEO Vernall Muller says the collaboration between SA’s network operators, to fight theft and network infrastructure vandalism, has resulted in the establishment of the Critical Infrastructure Monitoring Operations Centre (CiMOC), which operates under the COMRiC structure.
The CiMOC will prioritise the collective monitoring of critical network infrastructure theft and vandalism across the combined South African telco network footprint.
This includes working closely with the SAPS to identify and apprehend suspects in network vandalism, store robberies, battery theft and fraudulent application scenarios, including commercial crimes.
“The formation of COMRiC has enabled formal discussion and solution finding between operators to handle the risks they face. It has also created a platform through which we will engage society on issues of related crime and support government in the overall fight against crime in South Africa,” says Muller.
“Telecommunications infrastructure, which is the backbone of the information age, is particularly vulnerable to attack, and this escalating crime has translated into loss of service and network integrity.”
According to Muller, noticeably, over the last two years especially, the criminal gaze has shifted to SA’s telecoms operators, with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and load-shedding and related power cuts also contributing to the growing problem.
“The industry recognises that criminals do not discriminate when it comes to which network they target. As such, collectively working as the telecommunication industry provides benefits in terms of risk management for all operators, irrespective of market share.
“The opportunity exists for creating a safer environment that may lead to uninterrupted customer experience in the telecommunication space.”
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