South Sudan plans crackdown on counterfeit mobile phones

South Sudan has started developing a system to verify all mobile phones entering its territory in a bid to stem out counterfeit handsets, the communications regulatory body said on Wednesday.

The Director General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), Ladu Wani Kenyi, told Xinhua in Juba that they are in the process of developing an online verification system to verify genuine mobile products and also deploy inspectors in all crossing points to lock out fake mobile devices.

"We got a website that is being developed and once it is finished all those services to verify mobile phones will be there. Any person dealing in handsets must come to us and we give them approval of that product," Kenyi said.

He added that all mobile phone dealers would be asked to register with the NCA before being allowed to operate in South Sudan.

Kenyi, however, said the initiative maybe hampered by smugglers who would opt to sneak counterfeit mobile devices into the country in small quantities to avoid law enforcers, adding that collective efforts are needed to enable total ban on fake mobile products.

South Sudan's telecommunication industry is under developed with only 50 percent of the country connected to a telephone network as majority of infrastructure were damaged during years of civil war. Endit