By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
Minister of ICT, Postal & Courier Services Jenfan Muswere says Telecommunications Traffic Monitoring and Revenue Assurance System (TTMS) does not have the capability to monitor content and conversation.
Speaking at the commissioning of the TTMS Monday in Harare, Minister Muswere dispelled reports that the system would be used by Government to snoop on citizens.
“The system is limited to interacting with the signaling segment of the network and does not access traffic channels,” he said.
He said cybercrime was rampant across all sectors including the Telecommunication Sector and the cost of such crimes was deep into six figure digit figures while most of such crimes went unreported.
“Government is pleased that TTMS will assist in combatting telecommunication fraud perpetrated through traffic refiling and the use of grey routes or illegal gateways in the conveyancing of international traffic.
“The fraudulent traffic ends up being refiled into public networks through SIM BOXES of or illegal gateway therefore prejudicing the Operators and Economy of the much need foreign currency earnings.
“As I understand the TTMS incorporates a Fraud Management Module which enables the Authority to detect fraudulent telecommunication traffic and track down perpetrators of such crime,” Minister Muswere said.
“Full visibility of the sector, accurate statistics, accountability, and elimination of fraud are key elements for the growth of the ICT Sector in Zimbabwe.
“It is therefore my considered view that the implementation of the TTMS was overdue as the sector forms one of the major pillars in stimulating economic growth and development towards achievement of vision 2030.”
He said without a robust system, the sector was prone to manipulation and leakages.
“POTRAZ plays a pivotal role in supporting the Smart Zimbabwe 2030 Masterplan together with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are all tailored to expedite and guarantee the achievement of Vision 2030.
“The government, through the Ministry of ICT Postal and Courier Services, is committed to ensuring growth in the sector and will continue to play its oversight role as well as providing a forward looking and adaptable policy environment for the ICT sector,” he said.
POTRAZ Director General Dr Gift Machengete said until now, POTRAZ had relied on a self-declaratory regime, where operators declare their own revenues. “However, the information and statements provided by Mobile Network Operators (MNO’s) has the potential of being inaccurate, which means the nation may actually be prejudiced of revenue.
“The sheer potential of declarations by operators being inaccurate also undermines the regulator’s oversight ability,” he said.
“The Authority has been implementing some regulatory tools to ensure accuracy of declarations. “However, the only full-proof tool is the TTMS which ensures the regulator has sufficient visibility of the sector, hence its implementation.”
Of concern in countries that lack sufficient visibility of the telecommunications sector, Dr Machengete said was that grey markets tend to grow rapidly.
“Each year, billions of dollars in fees and taxes across the world is lost due to the illegal termination of international calls that bypass the international gateways of licensed operators.
“These illegal international calls are fraudulently terminated as local calls, using SIM boxes, PBX, and Internet-based methods.
“Telco’s try to cope with this grey telephony issue individually, some with more success than others, but with limited results overall,” Dr Machengete said.
The Sub-Saharan region is among the most affected by Sim Box fraud globally.
According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), since 2010, for example, Ghana has lost more than $100 million as a result of fraudulent SIM boxes.
According to the Nigerian Regulator (NCC), Nigeria is losing around $60 million each year due to SIM boxing, call masking and refilling.
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