APPLICATION OF VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK IN ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY
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APPLICATION OF VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK IN ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
The colonial administration established the Public Works Department (PWD) in 1896 to oversee the delivery of electricity in Nigeria. The Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN) was created in 1950/51, and it merged with the Niger Dams Authority (NDA) in 1962 to form the Nigerian Electric Power Authority (NEPA) in 1972.
Characterised by complete industry inefficiencies, such as inadequate supply and low income collection, the Federal Government unbundled NEPA’s monopoly and signed the Electricity Sector Reform Act into law in 2005.
The then-NEPA became the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), which was divided vertically into Generation, Transmission, and Distribution, and horizontally into eighteen separate Successor Companies.
Kano energy Distribution Company (KEDCO), which is responsible for distributing energy in Jigawa, Kano, and Katsina states, is one of the eleven Distribution businesses (Disco) among the eighteen successor businesses.
Some of the issues confronting the entire industry include insufficient supply, or the large gap between energy supply and demand, as well as a lack of revenue creation. According to Engr.Eyo O. Ekpo, Commissioner (Market, Competition, and Rates) at the Nigerian power Regulatory Commission (NERC)
in a presentation delivered at the 6th Business Law Conference, fewer than half of Nigeria’s population has access to power. It should be remembered that even individuals with access to electrical supply receive less than half of their demand.
Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) did not have a network connection in its early stages, hence both the head office and its branches (Business Units) were on their own with no sort of network connecting them.
There were no centralised databases or servers. A Casio calculator was the only gadget utilised to collect electricity consumption payments from clients at the end of each month. During the operation of this equipment, a lot of fraud and theft occurred.
As a result, revenue generation was quite poor. For example, someone can pay an electricity bill of N55,950 (fifty-five thousand nine hundred and fifty) and only N5,950 (five thousand nine hundred and fifty) will be credited to the company’s account, while the remaining N50,000 is lost due to fraudulent activity.
Figure 1: Casio Calculator (Cash Receipt Machine)
Handwritten bills were also accepted on this system, although the corporation later installed servers in all locations.Even after this initiative, many errors, fraud, theft, and insecurity persisted because the system was not centralised, meaning that each server operated independently.
As technology advanced, the corporation installed computers, which served as a means of communication between all of its divisions. It was an outstanding approach given that the corporation has been using primitive ways of functioning for some time.
Even banks use this system as their primary means of communication, and it is still in use at KEDCO.As a result of the issues observed while using the casiocash receipt machine in conjunction with decentralised servers
I hereby recommend the usage of a centralised server over a VPN (Virtual Private Network) network.A centralised server should be located at the headquarters.Other traditional cash offices/branches can then use a VPN to connect to the main office.
This form of connection enables all branches to connect securely over the internet to the centralised server via VPN.This allows for the usage of secure payment systems over a private network, such as:
Payment options include direct, e-channel via bank interswitch, and POS.
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