E-Business
‘Freight Train’ of Added Traffic to Hit ICT Networks Globally
Two recently published white papers have projected large increases in ICT network traffic over the next five years.
Each points to a different source of growth, which impacts different parts of the corporate network. Mobile data (of which video will form an increasing part) will affect the WAN and campus network; cloud computing will affect the data centre network.
Tony Munro, Solutions Executive: Dimension Data Africa equated the impact of the added traffic to that of a freight train.
“The network forms the basis for both growth points, so it’s important to consider their combined demand when planning your future capacity.”
Moving to mobility The most recent of the white papers – both published by Cisco – is titled Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2012-2017.
It documents an on-going initiative to track and forecast the impact of visual networking applications on global networks, and is partly based on data published by several well-known research houses.
According to the research, global mobile data traffic grew by a massive 70% in 2012 alone, with mobile video traffic exceeding 50% of total traffic for the first time.
More importantly, the paper projects that mobile video will increase 16-fold between 2012 and 2017 – which means that two-thirds of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video-related by 2017.
Much of this growth is created by additional devices that will be connected to networks, such as smartphones and tablets, but also to large numbers of sensors and monitors such as medical monitoring apparatuses, asset tracking devices, GPS tracking devices, temperature sensors, and so forth. These will generate machine to machine traffic.
Additionally, each connected device will generate more traffic as the applications that run on them become more sophisticated.
These connected devices won’t only increase network traffic for service providers, but also for enterprise networks, as more mobile devices and sensors connect back to business applications, and users on the enterprise network communicate with one another via video, using the wired and wireless network.
Towards a cloudy future
The second research paper, Cisco Global Cloud Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2011-2016, projects the growth of global data centre and cloud-based IP traffic, and describes the trends associated with data centre virtualisation and cloud computing.
One of the white paper’s conclusions reads as follows: ‘Global data centre traffic is firmly in the zettabyte era and will nearly quadruple from 2011 to reach 6.6 zettabytes annually by 2016. A rapidly growing segment of data centre traffic is cloud traffic, which will increase six-fold over the forecast period and represent nearly two-thirds of all data centre traffic by 2016.’
Interestingly, 76% of this traffic remains inside the data centre, which highlights the tremendous pressure exerted on data centre networks today.
The nature of data centre cloud traffic requires specialist network architectures to manage the most basic building block of cloud computing – the virtual machine – in the same way as a physical machine.
Additionally, storage traffic, which makes up 40% of data centre network traffic, becomes an important consideration as it moves to IP, thus adding even more load onto an already stretched network.
Preparing for impact
Munro believes projections like these should concern forward-thinking organisations.
‘When planning your enterprise mobility, visual communications and network infrastructure strategies, you need to be aware of these projected increases and start preparing for their impact. The growth in visual communications and cloud computing combined will require that most businesses double their network capacity at least every three years.
This is, of course, an estimate. Most computing infrastructure has a depreciation cycle of three to four years, while networking has an average depreciation cycle of seven years. It is likely that these trends will reduce the depreciating cycle for networking so that upgrades can be conducted more regularly.
‘In Dimension Data’s experience, many organisations are still unaware of what lies ahead. By far the majority don’t yet have video capabilities on the desktop – an area of almost certain growth in the near future. At the same time, many are already testing private cloud environments and investigating the possibility of moving their least risk-prone business applications to the cloud in order to save costs.
‘Again, the success of a cloud strategy depends on whether the network can handle the traffic,’ said Munro.
‘Only when the adoption of both video and cloud-based applications reaches higher levels, do many businesses realise their network is groaning under the weight, and begin to experience performance issues or, worse, increased outages.’
Partnering with care
What should organisations do to better brace themselves for impact? Munro emphasized the importance of in-depth network knowledge and skills, and understanding the profile of traffic across your network.
‘It’s important that your organisation forms a clear picture of its current state, including which parts of the network demand the most bandwidth. Then you need to project the future state of the network keeping future demands in mind. Lastly, create a roadmap to steer your on-going investment and development.
‘If you don’t have the necessary expertise on board,’ advised Munro, ‘it’s time to partner with the right people. The best networking experts don’t just provide integration and implementation skills where you fall short. They can also offer broader, multi-disciplinary architectural and consulting services to assist you strategically in the long term.
‘Your network forms the basis of ICT in your business. Changes to it will affect every area, including information security, data centres, software applications, communications and collaboration, and more. Due to the critical nature of a well-prepared network, businesses can no longer face the future without it.’
Nigeria has emerged as one of Africa’s most regulated online gambling markets, even as illegal operators continue to dominate the continent, according to a new report by Gaming Compliance International (GCI).
The report, the first comprehensive assessment of online gambling across all 54 African countries, showed that Africa’s online gambling Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) reached $23 billion in 2025.
However, only $5.2 billion (23 per cent) was generated by licensed operators, while $17.8 billion (77 per cent) remained in the unregulated market.
In West Africa, total online gambling revenue rose to $4.8 billion in 2025 from $4.3 billion in 2024. Of the 2025 figure, regulated operators accounted for $1.5 billion (31 per cent), while $3.3 billion (69 per cent) flowed to unlicensed platforms, highlighting the region’s persistent enforcement challenges.
Nigeria stood out as the region’s strongest performer, recording the lowest unregulated market share at 56 per cent, compared with the West African average of 69 per cent and the African average of 77 per cent.
The study also found that online gambling participation across Africa increased from 198 million people (13 per cent of the population) in 2024 to 215 million (14 per cent) in 2025.
Despite this growth, GCI estimated that illegal operators deprived African governments of about $3.55 billion in tax revenue in 2025. The number of unlicensed gambling platforms targeting African consumers also rose to 4,129, up from 3,644 in 2024.
Commenting on the findings, Matt Holt, chief executive officer, GCI, said the report provides regulators with the first continent-wide benchmark for strengthening oversight and consumer protection.
Ismail Vali, president, GCI, urged governments to develop competitive and well-regulated markets that encourage consumers to patronise licensed operators, boost public revenue and attract greater investment.
Online gambling in Nigeria is regulated by the Nation Lottery Regulatory Commission.
At the height of the Northern Hemisphere tourist season, demand for communications and mobile Internet services rises sharply. Kaspersky’s security experts have uncovered scams that target anyone purchasing mobile connections or SIM cards worldwide.
Fraudsters create counterfeit websites that look like the portals of major regional and international telecom providers to trick users into revealing their phone numbers, personal details or banking information.
Kaspersky is sharing several examples of these fake login pages that mimic legitimate telecom operator sites and giving recommendations on how not to be deceived.
In the first case, scammers exploit the brand name of an international telecommunications company operating services in Asia, Africa and Europe. Fake authentication pages encourage users to put in their phone number and credentials.
While the first example shows the different design, the second scam site closely mimics the original log in page, making it hard for users to tell the difference and spot a fake. Entering authentication or payment data on fraudulent web sites may result in money or data loss and become a reason for more frequent spam and fraudulent calls.
Another example is a scam page which poses as another international communications company, working in North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In this scheme scammers encourage users to top up their mobile data/Internet plans by entering their personal information and bank cards details.
Kaspersky experts have also identified a scam when cyber criminals suggest users enter their personal data to check and pay a bill inquiry. Such scam schemes are usually aimed at gaining victims’ personal data for further fraud or account hacking and stealing money.
“Because of the active use of AI, scammers can now create fake pages with ever increasing accuracy and speed, targeting the most popular user interest areas. We constantly see scams revolving around sports events, music concerts, seasonal sales and holidays. Unfortunately, the telecoms industry is no exception.
To keep your data and money safe, be vigilant when purchasing mobile or Internet plans online. Using an eSIM – purchased through an official app – is one way to avoid fake telecom sites, as it eliminates the need to enter personal details on questionable web pages.
If you’re unsure about a site’s legitimacy, search for the brand name directly in a search engine and enable a security solution that blocks phishing links for you,” comments Tatyana Kulikova, cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky.
In a strategic push to bridge the gender digital divide, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has partnered with the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) to advance women’s digital inclusion and drive the nation’s transformation agenda.
Dr Aristotle Onumo and some NITDA staff, pose for a group photograph with the President of the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Comrade Aisha Ibrahim, and members of the delegation following a strategic engagement at the Agency’s Headquarters in Abuja.
The partnership was cemented during a courtesy visit to NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, by a NAWOJ delegation led by National President Comrade Aishatu Ibrahim, who introduced the agency to the forthcoming Women in Security (WINSEC) Summit & Awards 2026.
Inuwa, represented by Dr. Aristotle Onumo, the Director of the Stakeholders Management and Partnerships Department, assured the association that NITDA would not only participate in the conference, but also support the success of the conference.
Inuwa hailed the NAWOJ for creating a platform for peacebuilding, dialogue on security and women’s inclusion, which he described as one of the critical areas NITDA is focused on to ensure that more women obtain digital literacy and skills under the National Gender Inclusive Strategy.
Beyond NITDA’s plan to participate in the conference, the DG noted that a robust partnership between the organisations would engender meaningful opportunities and initiatives through which many more women can access digital literacy.
“Inclusivity is the key to everything we do at NITDA. We clearly defined that 40 per cent of our programmes must recognise the issue of gender. We ensure that women are adequately represented and positioned to benefit greatly from the programmes that we organise in the agency.
“We graciously accept to participate actively in that conference. Apart from acquiring skills among journalists themselves, partnership with NAWOJ will also serve as a platform through which we can also reach out to various women’s groups across the federation,” Inuwa said.
Earlier, Comrade Ibrahim commended the DG for his visionary and transformational leadership which has continued to position NITDA as the catalyst for Nigeria’s digital economy through its various programmes.
She explained that the Women in Security (WINSEC) Summit and Awards 2026 is an initiative of NAWOJ designed to promote collaboration among government institutions, security agencies, technology experts, the media, and other stakeholders to address contemporary security challenges.
According to Comrade Ibrahim, the association also aims to recognise outstanding individuals and institutions that have demonstrated excellence in security, governance, and innovation while fostering meaningful dialogue on the role of technology in building a safer and more resilient Nigeria.
“We deeply appreciate your exemplary leadership, passion for innovation, and unwavering commitment to building a digitally empowered Nigeria. We respectfully invite the agency to partner with NAWOJ in making this landmark initiative a success.
“We look forward to establishing a long-term partnership with NITDA that will empower women journalists with cutting-edge digital skills, support digital inclusion and contribute to innovation, digital literacy, and human capital development,” the NAWOJ president added.
Both organisations expressed optimism that the meeting would lay a solid foundation for a rewarding partnership agreement with specific and clearly defined objectives that will support digital inclusion and contribute to innovation, digital literacy, and human capital development.
Senate Moves to Compel Social Media Companies to Open Offices in Nigeria
Nigeria Leads Africa in Online Gambling Regulation – GCI
CBN Has Not Published Annual Financial Statements Since 2022 despite Legal Requirement
ChatPay Unveils Public Waitlist for WhatsApp-Based Banking Platform
GSMA Says High Smartphone Costs Threatens Africa’s AI Future
NRC, Ponzi Scheme Collapses Resulting Loss of Billions of Naira
NASENI Moves to Digitize CCB’s 5m Assets Declaration and Operations
Tokenization, Blockchain Technology will Transform Financial Institutions – IMF
EFCC Busts NIS Visa Overstay Racket, Uncovers N700m in an Account
From Scarcity to Scale: What Africa Can Learn from India’s Agricultural Transformation
General News3 days agoFG Launches C.L.I.C.K.D., Consumer Credit Scheme for Tech Devices
Telecom3 days agoAirtel Nigeria Expands Retail Footprint to Strengthen Customer Access Nationwide
Telecom3 days agoMTN Nigeria Opens Applications for Next Afrobeats Star Season 2 with Bigger Prizes
News3 days agoNPC Opens Nationwide Digital Birth, Death Registration Platform
Telecom3 days agoKaspersky Survey Highlights the Need for Smartphone Security
E-Business3 days agoOvaloop Technologies Unveils Digital Tools to Formalize SMEs Operations Across Africa
E-Financial3 days agoCBN Retains Interest Rate at 26.5% as Cardoso Cites Global Uncertainty Despite Inflation Drop
Telecom2 days agoCourt Dismisses Pan African Towers’ Bid to Halt Ex-CEO’s Suit, Awards ₦500,000 Costs