The number of phones approved for sale in Nigeria by the country’s telecommunications regulator has increased to 1,891.
The devices, which are of different brands and models, were tested by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and certified to have met the applicable type approval standards required to allow them to be sold to consumers in Nigeria.
Many phones for Nigerians: As of April this year, the number of approved phones by the NCC stood at 1,843. This shows that mobile phone manufacturers secured approval for 48 new models of phones in the last six months.
The latest data on type-approved phones seen by Nairametrics shows that Chinese mobile manufacturers are still dominating the mobile market in the country in terms of approved devices. Tecno led the pack with over 300 models of its phones approved.
Why approval is necessary: Speaking on the moves to ensure that all phones in the country are type-approved, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta, recently warned Nigerians not to buy any phone that has not been certified for the market by the regulator.
Danbatta, who frowned at the 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 Nigerian phone market: With over 200 million active mobile subscriptions as of September 2022, the country remains a veritable market for mobile manufacturers across the world.
- Fake or substandard phones affect the quality of service the users get and ala so pose a health risk to the users.
- The regulatory approval for phones was to ensure phones and devices being used in the country are of quality standard.
- Despite the regulatory efforts, thousands of unapproved phone brands are still being sold across the country.
- While the unapproved phones are in most cases sub-standard or fake, they sell faster than the approved ones as they are sold at cheaper prices.
