NCC moves against vendors of non-approved communication equipment

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said any corporate entity found selling or installing communications equipment without obtaining the type approval test certificate would be liable to a fine of N100,000 or one-year imprisonment.

Mr Chukwuma Nwaiwu, head, Wireless Network, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) gave the warning in Lagos during the inauguration of the 1st Type Approval Industry Working Group Meeting.

Nwaiwu explained that the type approval also known as equipment authorisation was an approval given to both radio and non-radio devices, which would be interfaced with the Nigerian communications network.

He said that type approval was a necessity which would ensure safety of the public from dangerous equipment and facilitate quality service.

“Type approval would also protect public telecommunication networks and ensure compatibility, interoperability of the equipment connected to the national networks, ‘’ Nwaiwu said.
He noted that the categories of equipment required for type approval were spectrum dependent equipment, non-radio dependent devices, short range devices, terminal devices and Internet of Things (IoTs).

Also speaking, Mr Bako Wakil, Head, Technical Standards and Network Integrity Department, NCC, said that selling of non-type approval or counterfeit mobile devices posed a major threat to the growth of the economy.

He said that counterfeit equipment had trademark logo of the original brand and its form factor “but they don’t have the intrinsic quality of the original device’’.

Wakil said that counterfeiting would lead to inadequate taxation and threat on the green environment.