The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reported that the number of phones approved for sale in the country rose to 2,155 in July 2023, representing 43 additional new devices over the 2,112 approved by the regulatory commission as of April this year.
Usually before granting to any device, the Commission had tested them and found such devices to have met the applicable type approval standards required to supply them to consumers in the country.
The latest data by the telecom industry regulator on type-approved phones showed that Chinese mobile manufacturers were still controlling a huge share of the domestic mobile market in terms of approved devices.
An analysis of the phone brands in the market reflected that Transsion Group devices, comprising Tecno, Infinix, and iTel currently has 545 models of their phones approved for sale in Nigeria, which represents 25% of the total approved phones in the market.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, had recently reiterated the commitment of commission to ensure that all phones in the country were type-approved and warned Nigerians not to patronize sub-standard phone dealers by buying any phone that has not been certified for the market by the regulator.
Danbatta, who rued the rising rate of proliferation of counterfeit handsets in the country, said: “The menace of counterfeit and substandard handsets has assumed a global dimension and requires a lot of education on the part of the consumers and collaboration with other government agencies to address it.
“Cases of influx and patronage of counterfeit handsets are more rampant in developing countries, such as Nigeria, where importers bring in substandard phones without recourse to the regulatory type-approval process aimed at certifying such devices as fit for the market”, the EVC added.
Industry analysts have linked the massive supply of all types of phones to Nigeria over the past years partly to the nation’s large population and their low prices, which many poor Nigerians usually prefer to use.
As of June this year, data from the NCC showed that active mobile subscriptions stood at over 219 million
The influx of unapproved-type of phones into the country remains a concern despite sustained efforts by the commission to combat the menace through regulatory and public enlightenment initiatives.
By the provisions of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, the NCC is empowered to establish and enforce standards for all telecommunications equipment in operation in the country to ensure that they operate in compliance with global best standards.
