NCC seals up two mobile phone firms in Lagos

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) at the weekend sealed off two mobile phone companies- Ken Xin Da and G- Tide Mobile in Lagos, over failure to submit their mobile phone models for type approval before selling to consumers.

Head of Media and Public Relations, Nigeria Communications Commission, Reuben Muoka disclosed that the two mobile companies had been importing and selling mobile phones that were not approved by the regulatory body, saying using substandard phones had serious implications in the network as they depreciate it and also contributed to the poor quality of service in the country.

He disclosed that the two mobile companies had several models of mobile phones which were not approved by the commission, adding that before any equipment is install in the network, it must be approved by the NCC and that Nigeria only has one network and all the equipment are connected.

The Head of enforcement, NCC Efosa Idehen who led the excise disclosed that the commission saw a lot of adverts on the pages of newspapers last year on mobile phones that were being imported and sold in the country, adding that as the regulator of the industry, NCC looked at the addresses of the mobile companies which include KenXinDa and G-Tide, and invited the them for a meeting, but none of them show up.

He explained that a public notice was put up to warn the companies to desist from selling phones that were not approved in Nigeria, saying after the notice expired since December 2011, the commission decided to give them more time to come around and submit their equipment for type approval, but they did not come.

“Today we are enforcing against Ken Xin Da and G-Tide, we would follow through the others. They are about seven of them that we have en-marked for this type of activity. We will continue to pursue them until we ride our society off phones that are not approved,” he said.

The Head of enforcement pointed out that the fact that phones were not type approved did not make them substandard, but most of them could be, explaining that if they were not substandard, the mobile companies would have submitted them for approval.

He said the aim of the enforcement excise was to make the companies do the right thing, that before phones are brought into the market they must be type approved, saying the market is lager to accommodate everybody but they must do what the NCC said that was good for the country’s network.