The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) on Thursday solicited the participation of stakeholders and telephone dealers in preserving the telecom markets from none approved phones and other devices.
The call was made by the Mr Bako Wakli, Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, NCC, at a sensitisation workshop on `Equipment Type Approval’, organised by the commission in Lagos.
Wakil, was represented by Mr Anthony Ikemefuna, Assistant Director, Technical Standards and Integrity, of the commission.
He said the sensitisation workshop was particularly to address issues of health and safety as well as quality of service challenges as a result of non-approved or substandard phones and other devices in the industry.
He said that the sensitisation was to enlighten the public on the need to ensure that all telecom equipment used in the Nigerian market were approved by the commission to ensure safety and compliance with international standards.
“Equipment Type Approval is one of the key regulatory functions the Commission is saddled with.
“The Nigerian Communications Act 2003 section 132 empowers the Commission to carry out Type approval of all Communications equipment for use in the Nigerian market.
“Section 132 (2) of the Act states that “Licensed service or facilities providers, equipment manufacturers or suppliers shall obtain type approval certificates from the Commission in respect of their communications equipment or facilities prior to installation or sale in Nigeria.
“It is, therefore, an offence punishable under the law to import or sell communications equipment prior to obtaining Type Approval certificate from the Commission.
“The main objective of the equipment Type Approval is to ensure that Communications equipment intended for the Nigerian market have fully complied with Nigerian and International standards.
“Such standards relate to Electromagnetic Radiation, Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for human safety and other regulatory key performance indicators for the promotion of better quality of service,” Wakli said.
He stated that the commission was aware of the proliferation of sub-standard phones and other equipment by unpatriotic elements in the society which were detrimental to human health and poor quality of service in the industry.
According to him, the commission is determined to improve compliance with industry standards by all players, as the Commission has a strengthened Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department headed by a Director.
“This is to improve our surveillance activities and also to ensure full compliance to standards by all stakeholders.
“I, therefore, wish to solicit your cooperation to remain vigilant and report all cases of noncompliance to the Commission for prompt action.’’
Accordint to him, the list of all type approved equipment are available on the commission’s website (www.ncc.gov.ng) and this is updated on monthly basis.
“I want to call on the general public to refer to the commission’s website to ensure that they buy handsets/devices that have been approved by the commission,” he said.
He also identified quality of service as a major challenge in the industry.
According to him, the challenges are due to capacity constraints as a result of environmental factors such as insecurity, vandalism of telecom installations, theft of generators, and delay in getting Right of Way.
Others are delay in securing planning permissions for network expansion, lack of constant power supply and community issues amongst others.
“The Commission is working hard with relevant stakeholders to resolve all of these issues and will continue to hold service providers accountable for poor quality of service in the industry,’’ he said.(NAN)
