The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned traders and other stakeholders in the nation’s telecommunication ecosystem about the negative consequences of selling and purchasing phones and telecommunications gadgets that are not type-approved by it in the country.
The commission, in a statement issued by its Director, Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, at the weekend stressed that certification of telecom devices used in the telecom sector remained one of its mandates as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (2003) with the central objective of the “protection of the rights and interests of consumers”.
Mouka clarified that non-type approved telecom devices were considered to be supplied to the Nigerian market from grey sources and are known to degrade quality of services in the network.
The Deputy Director Consumer Affairs Bureau, Dr. Emilia Nwokoro, who represented the Executive Vice of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, at the 5th edition of Market Conversation, a telecom consumer outreach programme of NCC, which took place recently at the GSM Village in Abuja, was quoted as saying that the event is part of the sensitization efforts of the Commission to frontally address the menace non-type approved telecom devices in the telecom market.
Nwokoro harped on the need to sensitize phone traders nationwide about the implications of trading in substandard products as they may face the risk of arrest and prosecution if found selling non-type approved devices.
The Deputy Director said: “The essence of coming here today is to enlighten the traders on the dangers of selling non type-approved devices. The NCC established procedures for certifying telecom products sellable and usable in Nigeria, and that explains the Commission’s efforts to raise awareness to ensure that substandard products are not circulated in any market in Nigeria.”
She told the GSM Village traders that the procedure for approval of telecom devices had been laid down by the Commission, and all type-approved devices had also been published on the commission’s website for public and user reference.
Nwokoro, therefore, advised the traders to take advantage of the information availed them at the forum to identify type-approved phones from non-type approved phone devices.
In his remarks, the Chairman, GSM Village Market, Abuja, Macdonald Ajuogu, said the market union had a task force that monitors the types and standards of devices being sold at the market, and that the association had put measures in place to deal with any trader that violates their rules.
He thanked the NCC’s management for the awareness programme and promised that the traders would strive to abide by the prescriptions of the commission by cross-checking with the NCC’s list of certified and type- approved devices to avoid being sanctioned.
