TANZANIA will join her neighbour Kenya in getting rid of counterfeit telephone handsets in the country by switching them off.
Speaking to “Sunday News’ the
Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) Acting Corporate
Communication Manager Mr Semu Mwakyanjala said the regulatory authority
is first planning to educate the public on the need to buy genuine
mobile phones.
“It is a long term plan to switch off
counterfeit mobile phones in operation, for now we are only focusing on
educating the public into buying genuine mobile phones,” Mr
Mwakyanjala noted. He said the move will eventually be taken by all the
other East African Member states, including Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.
The Uganda Communications Commission
(UCC) was recently quoted as to saying that counterfeit gadgets will be
switched off at the end of November this year. A survey conducted by New
Vision in Uganda showed that mobile phone dealers in Uganda are feeling
the pinch as customers no longer want to purchase the ‘Made in
China’ phones believing most of Chinese phones are fake.
Mr Mwakyanjala said the aim of blocking
the counterfeit mobile phones is to boost security, noting that for the
exercise to work, the regulatory authority depends on cooperation of all
stakeholders in the communication industry. Explaining the software
used for blocking counterfeit phones,
Mr Issac Mruma from TCRA Consumer
Affairs department said the Central Equipment Identification Registrar
(CEIR) is employed to identify fake mobile phones and then block them.
Mr Mruma said the country is in the process of acquiring the software,
however it will only be implemented after the public is aware of the
advantages of genuine mobile phones.
Although Mr Mwakyanjala said the
initiative to switch off fake mobile phones was agreed on in a meeting
of the East African Communication Organization (EACO). The Rwanda
Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) was also quoted saying that it
will soon announce the date for switching off the fake mobile phones.
RURA said it is working on the
methodology to disconnect fake phones off their network and they will
work with telecommunication companies to execute the exercise. RURA
noted that it will use the International Mobile Equipment Identity
(IMEI) number through network service providers to differentiate between
fake and genuine handsets.
In Tanzania early this month the deputy
minister for Communication Science and Technology Mr January Makamba was
quoted in a local daily saying that the country is working out plans on
how to deal with fake handsets in light of Kenya’s move to switch
them off. Mr Makamba said the fear is that those fake phones from Kenya
will flood the Tanzania market, promising to convene a meeting with TCRA
to deliberate on the issue.
Reliable sources that declined to be
named had noted that Telecom service providers are reluctant for
government to institute the move to switch off all fake mobile phones,
for fear of losing customers.
However, recently Vodacom Tanzania
Managing Director Mr Rene Meza was quoted saying that the move is
commendable since it is aimed at protecting consumers’ rights and
heavy investments made by multination companies. TCRA is participating
in the Financial Service and Investment exhibition week at Mnazi Mmoja
grounds, where it is giving presentations to small and medium
entrepreneurs on financial issue.
source: dailynews
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