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Tanzania to switch off fake phones in June: official

Xinhua, February 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Tanzania is set to switch off all counterfeit mobile phones on June 16, in an effort to protect consumers from substandard phones, safeguard mobile payment systems and prevent crime, the country's communication regulatory body said Wednesday.

The move came at the time when estimates show that 40 percent of mobile phone users in the East Africa's second economy use fake handsets.

Mobile networks will also be forbidden from activating new counterfeit devices bought after the switch-off deadline.

Head of Corporate Communications at the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), Innocent Mungy, told Xinhua on Wednesday that the authority has already launched a new system dubbed Central Equipment Identification Register (CEIR), which is database of the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of blacklisted handsets.

A common usage of a CEIR is with stolen cell phones whereby once a user reports to their operator about the theft and fake phones. The cell phone's IMEI number will go to CEIR, supposedly making the device unusable in any network.

"As communication regulatory body, we're clearly announcing that June 16 this year will be the deadline for phone users to approve their mobile phone standards, otherwise they will be disabled," Mungy said.

The introduction of the system will affect millions of Tanzanians who are using mobile phone handsets which are not genuine.

In Tanzania there are more than 35 million simcards in the country whereby most of them will be affected by the switch-off exercise.

A handset will be deemed fake when its IMEI number, unique identifier for each phone, will not be recognized by an international database.

Mungy said the switch-off exercise is aimed at removing all counterfeit handsets in the market to protect consumers from substandard phones, safeguard mobile payment systems and prevent crime.

The official also encouraged all mobile phone subscribers to check the status of their handsets by texting their IMEI number to a special number set up by the authority which then let them know whether or not their phone was genuine.

In 2012, the similar exercise carried out in Kenya whereby about 1.5 million Kenyans were affected by the clamp-down exercise aimed at clamping down on counterfeit handsets. Endit