BusinessDay 05 Apr 2018

Innovation Apps Fin-Tech Start-up Gadgets Ecommerce IOTs Broadband Infrastructure Bank IT Security
Thursday 05 April 2018
Satellite Connectivity as an enabler
of Broadband in Nigeria – MDXI Boss
BUSINESS DAY
21
In this exclusive interview, Gbenga Adegbiji, General Manager, MDXI data centre, highlights the essence of
partnership with Avanti, Satellite Connectivity as a broadband enabler in Nigeria and other issues.
MDXI recently announced
a partnership with Avanti
Communications. Can you
shed some light on that?
Yes. MDXI data
centre partnered
with Avanti to
host and manage
their in-country
Gateway Earth Station (GES)
at our Lekki data centre.
This partnership has already
delivered the buildout of
Avanti’s first GES in West
Africa, hosted at our satellite
antenna farm in Lagos and
will attract Foreign Direct
Investment of up to USD 20
million into Nigeria.
Ahead of the launch of
Avanti’s HYLAS 4 Ka-band
satellite, MDXI had provided
a home for their GES with intention
to cover all of Nigeria.
The gateway in MDXI will ensure
data from the HYLAS 4
Ka-band satellite is delivered
efficiently in-country and
interconnected with other
networks already connected
at our data centre.
What is this MDXI-Avanti
partnership all about?
As you know, our parent company,
MainOne is committed
to broadband proliferation
across West Africa and continues
to push the envelop
towards keeping the region at
the forefront of satellite and
broadband technology development.
This partnership is to
foster the development of relevant
broadband products to
CALEB OJEWALE
Cyber security is
increasingly important
for both
big and small businesses,
because if anything,
attacks in recent times have
shown a number of hackers
will now deploy their resources
to attack any vulnerable
infrastructure, regardless
of the organisation’s
size; it is now more about
ransom.
The Cisco 2018 cyber security
report highlighted that
those tasked with the security
of Information technology systems
need to further develop a
tradition of; making strategic
security improvements and
Gbenga Adegbiji
serve the needs of millions of
consumers across Nigeria that
are currently without internet
capacity. Now, we have the
opportunity to make accelerated
broadband expansion
possible via fixed broadband
and satellite, to overcome lastmile
gaps experienced in fibre
infrastructure and enable the
attainment of 30% broadband
penetration target identified in
the National Broadband Plan.
Important tips from Cisco’s cyber security report
adhering to common best
practices which can reduce
exposure to emerging risks,
slow attackers’ progress, and
provide more visibility into the
threat landscape. They are to
consider:
* Implementing first-lineof-defense
tools that can scale,
like cloud security platforms.
* Confirming that they adhere
to corporate policies and
practices for application, system,
and appliance patching.
* Employing network segmentation
to help reduce
outbreak exposures
* Adopting next-generation
endpoint process monitoring
tools.
* Accessing timely, accurate
threat intelligence data
and processes that allow for
In what specific ways will
MDXI support the HYLAS 4
satellite launch project? Why
did Avanti choose MDXI?
As the region’s premier carrier
neutral data centre, MDXI will
provide mission-critical data
centre services to Avanti as
well as extensive interconnections
with other operators, Internet
Service Providers (ISPs),
content and payment providers,
OTTs and the Nigerian
Internet Exchange. MDXI’s
data centre campus hosts
one of the largest Teleport
Antenna farms in the whole
of West Africa with gateways to
4 major international satellite
networks – EMC, Nigcomsat,
Speedcast (Harris Caprock)
and now Avanti. This provides
Avanti with premium teleport
facilities for its West African
coverage.
MDXI is also well positioned
to serve Avanti as
the region’s most connected
carrier neutral Tier III data
centre, interconnecting
not only the region’s major
network providers but also
enabling smaller ISPs.
We currently have direct
that data to be incorporated
into security monitoring and
eventing.
* Reviewing and practicing
security response procedures.
* Backing up data often
and testing restoration procedures—processes
that are critical
in a world of fast-moving,
network-based ransomware
worms and destructive cyber
weapons.
* Reviewing third-party
efficacy testing of security
technologies to help reduce
the risk of supply chain attacks.
* Conducting security
scanning of microservice,
cloud service, and application
administration systems.
* Reviewing security systems
and exploring the use
of SSL analytics—and, if pos-
connections to all Mobile
network operators in-country
and 22 network providers
with services across
the country. We are also
connected to four top submarine
cables including
WACS, ACE, Glo1 and of
course, the MainOne cable.
The KA band satellite internet:
How exactly will that
work connecting Oil and Gas
companies and governments
into remote locations?
Satellite communication
systems can help bridge the
digital divide and complement
fibre broadband delivery
because with the installation
of a small dish, they
are able to provide services
to remote areas.
In partnership with Avanti,
our parent company (MainOne)
plans to install VSAT
access terminals in Oil and
Gas companies, schools, communities
and government
agencies and offer support
to remote Onshore, Offshore
and Deep Offshore locations
where connectivity services
and power availability remain
a challenge. We hope
to impact and foster better
eGovernment, eLearning,
eCommerce, eHealth and
eBanking services in urban
and rural areas across Nigeria.
How will the relationship
impact the broadband
and internet conectivity
in the ICT sector? Given
sible, SSL decryption. Defenders
should also consider
adopting advanced security
technologies that include machine
learning and artificial
intelligence capabilities. With
malware hiding its communication
inside of encrypted
web traffic, and rogue insiders
sending sensitive data through
corporate cloud systems, security
teams need effective
tools to prevent or detect the
use of encryption for concealing
malicious activity.
Sharing accurate threat intelligence
enables better
security
According to Cicso; all organizations
that share threat
information to customers
or the public through any
the Broadband Plan’s 2018
target of 30% fixed connectivity
in Nigeria, how can
this enable that?
Despite a fairly articulate
Broadband Policy, Nigeria
has not been able to attain
initial targets of 30% fixed
penetration in Nigeria. As
Africa’s biggest economy,
Nigeria stands the risk of being
left behind on the global
technology map if it does not
emulate global best practices
and ensure broadband infrastructure
deployment to
major cities and rural areas
in the country and as qucikly
as possible too. While broadband
infrastructure companies
like MainOne remain
focused on delivering services
and infrastructure to deepen
broadband penetration and
support critical business and
social needs across the region,
policy limitations continue
to make infrastructure
gaps a reality.
Nigeria needs rapid deployment
of connectivity and
satellite broadband communications
which will complement
fixed infrastructure and
create a level playing ground
to achieve meaningful social
development, irrespective
of location or distance from
civilisation.
The partnership between
Avanti, MainOne and MDXI
will ensure that satellite communications
complements
broadband fiber infrastructure
buildouts and provides a
channel should employ
guidelines that help them
ensure accuracy in their
reporting. Even if all the
facts aren’t clear, organizations
can still communicate
what they know—and avoid
guessing. Being right is better
than being first. For example,
when the WannaCry
attack unfolded in May 2017,
there was initial confusion
within the security community
about how the ransom
ware worm was infiltrating
systems. Multiple organizations
in both the public and
private sector were reporting
that the attack stemmed
from a phishing campaign
and malicious email attachment.
But the networkbased
threat was, in fact,
converaged solution to tackle
the country’s internet access
challenges. We believe that the
access conundrum can only
be resolved by collaborative
solutions and shared services
which have come to stay as the
world converges into one large
digital economy.
Shared infrastructure and
competencies will create
efficiencies in both services
cost and operations and enhance
competition and the
competitiveness of the ICT
sector as a whole.
So what is in it for MDXi?
In line with the vision of our
parent company MainOne, we
are committed to broadband
proliferation in West Africa as
a means of bridging the digital
divide and launching the West
African region into the next
digital economy.
This is why MDXi invested
about N13billion in building
our data centre in Lekki. We
are currently investing an
additional N2.5bn to expand
to second phase (Wing B)
of the project. We also have
upcoming data centres in
Sagamu (planned for 2019),
Accra and Cote D’Ivoire.
The MainOne group has
a role to play in Africa’s technology
narrative and believe
this is a significant industrial
opportunity that will keep the
continent at the forefront of
data centre and broadband
technology development in
order to bridge the digital gap.
scanning for and infecting
vulnerable, public-facing
Microsoft Windows Server
Message Block (SMB) Server
ports. Cisco threat researchers
quickly alerted the security
community that the
emails they thought were
connected to the WannaCry
campaign were likely spam
emails from the Necurs bot
that were spreading “Jaff”
ransomware. It was several
days before the security
community was in agreement
that the suspicious
emails contained Jaff—not
WannaCry. And during that
time, users were acting on
information that could not
help them to avoid the fastmoving
WannaCry campaign.
Team: Frank Eleanya, frank.eleanya@businessdayonline.com; Caleb Ojewale, caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com