Verification of type-approval not limited to handsets, says NCC - ITREALMS

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The calls for verification of type approved devices by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is not limited to handsets only, reports ITREALMS.

Recently, NCC has called on telecommunications consumers in the country to be wary of types of mobile devices they buy and use to minimize certain level of complaints which are primarily associated to ineffective devices.

NCC also declared that the verification was not limited to handsets alone but expanded to include tablets, laptops and other devices.

The telecom regulator through the Director of Technical Standard and Network Integrity, Engr. Bako Wakil, gave this intelligence to telecommunications consumers, saying they need to know about type-approved mobile devices, reports ITREALMS.

This, ITREALMS gathered, become necessary in the wake of Commission’s advice for telecommunications consumers to verify their desired mobile devices before purchase.

Wakil said that the type-approval process is to ensure, checkmate and reduce the importation and usage of sub-standard telecommunications devices in Nigeria. Stressing that the verification was not limited to handsets alone but expanded to tablets, laptops and other devices.

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“If substandard mobile devices were not checkmated in the Nigerian telecom industry, they could wreak a lot of havoc in the sector and consumers at large,” he said, outlining some of the challenges to include the issue of radiation.

Substandard handsets, Wakil said, could radiate beyond the specified or required percentage, thereby causing harm to the end-user, in addition to causing noise and interferences in the network.

“Oftentimes, telecom consumers complain of poor network services, while, unknown to them, it is the quality of their mobile devices that is the cause of the problem. This is the reason the commission is appealing to every consumer to check the NCC website before purchasing any model of their desired devices.

“We have model number list of the type-approved mobile devices either mobile phones, tablets, or laptops, or any devices that will be connected to the national network.”

NCC’s director equally lamented that state of the country was one major factor responsible for the influx of fake and substandard devices.

“These devices are in high demand because they appear to be cheaper, thereby encouraging sales and more patronage from unsuspecting telecom consumers,” he counselled.

Chuks Egbune/Editor