NCC AND GREY MOBILE DEVICE MARKET

NCC optimism to get rid of unapproved mobile devices is misplaced, reckons SONNY ARAGBA-AKPORE

When he spoke to stakeholders including the media last week in Abuja, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Mr. Edoyemi Ogoh sounded very optimistic the Commissions strategy to stamp out unapproved mobile devices in the country would be a battle it could win. But by the benefit of hindsight and experience, stamping out the grey market will be an uphill task.
The Commission is certainly on a wide goose chase. It can win the battle but not the war.

Edoyemi, an engineer, said the NCC has typed nearly 231 mobile devices since 2001 when the GSM revolution began. But that is only the figure the NCC can capture. Only few honest businesspeople had the courage to submit imported devices to the NCC for approval. Strangely enough, for a single type of approved device, three others are in the Nigerian space in the hands of users some of whom have been plagued by the economic conditions to go for any device that is affordable. The grey market is far ahead of the NCC.

Anyone buys a handset and whether such people take the pains to verify through Adeyemi’s prescribed code *315 # whether such devices are registered or not is a matter for further analysis. As a reporter in 2001 when the GSM debuted in Nigeria, the cost of acquisition was prohibitive until grey marketers entered the industry and liberalized ownership of devices for people who were in a hurry to join the privileged class of GSM acquisition drive. Nokia 3310 was a very big attraction. Nokia brought in millions of devices including the 3310 but for long it remained a big attraction. Over the years other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) entered the country and began their trade.

Street figures are far more than Edoyemi’s 231 million registered devices. With nearly 200 million active mobile subscribers in the country, it is unusual to assume that the 200 million subscribers are hooked on to the 231million devices. The Commission has some work to do. Nokia dominated the market for long until competitors like Samsung and Alcatel came. Not too many people remember these except Samsung which is in a fierce battle for market share with iPhone. But both are elitist and not readily affordable or reachable to many. So people who can’t afford them and want services how do they cope?
As is expected, because of their prohibitive costs, their sales are not too attractive to the dealers. Other products have since entered the market to give iPhone and Samsung a fight for their money.

Nobody remembers Nokia and Alcatel now. The number of devices in the market are far above what the NCC has identified to track and verify. And unless it plans sanctions against Mobile Network Operators by forbidding them from accepting devices not registered, the battle is silent. Operators are in business to make money and fresh Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) cards are released from time to time and the operators must sell or give out such cards free of charge as in matured markets. Somehow does the NCC hope to make its money especially when it waits for the operators Annual Operating Levy (AOL) of 2.5% of declared gross revenue yearly? Doling out SIM cards is a business decision including recycling SIM cards without economic activities within 90 days. The battle for the NCC cannot be addressed in a single press conference. And Edoyemi and his boss, Dr. Aminu Maida, know this unless they are in living the past. Edoyemi admitted that the commission is not blacklisting unapproved devices that have been connected to the networks before the new order. “We are not blacklisting those that have come up before this,” he said, explaining that the decision intended to protect consumers who purchased devices without having access to verification tools. Ogoh clarified that previously connected devices, including those that might not meet current approval standards, would not be disconnected retrospectively.

“We had already registered about 231 million devices across the country. And those devices, basically, you don’t have to do anything. The subscriber does not have to do anything,” Ogoh said, adding that the commission had automatically captured devices already operating on Nigerian networks before the verification system became fully operational, removing the need for existing subscribers to undertake additional registration.

However, newly introduced devices must meet the commission’s verification requirements before accessing telecommunications networks. Under Section 132(2) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, telecommunications equipment must obtain regulatory approval before being sold or used in Nigeria. The new framework would prevent additional non-compliant devices from entering the telecommunications ecosystem saying the commission is collaborating with the Nigeria Customs Service, manufacturers, importers and dealers to ensure that imported devices are authenticated before entering the market.
The framework also allows regulators to identify the importer, date of importation and quantity of individual devices, strengthening enforcement against suppliers of counterfeit products.

Edoyemi cited poor network quality as reason to insist that counterfeit devices could not be allowed to exist or contribute to poor network quality because faulty equipment sometimes interferes with telecommunications infrastructure, affecting other subscribers using the same cell site. Director, Public Affairs at the NCC, Nnenna Ukoha, described the initiative as part of efforts to improve telecommunications safety, network quality and consumer protection.

Aragba-Akpore is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board