TCRA sets ball rolling in crackdown on fake phones

TCRA head of corporate communications, Innocent Mungy, made the disclosure here yesterday at a brief seminar aimed at creating awareness among journalists of the agency’s new ‘Central Equipment Identification Register (CEIR)’.

According to Mungy, the CEIR is a database for International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of all blacklisted mobile handsets in the country. Whenever a cellphone is reported as fake or stolen, the phone's IMEI number will go into the CEIR, supposedly making the device unusable in any network.

Many handsets will be deemed fake if their IMEI number (the unique identifier for each phone) is also not recognized by an international database.

“As TCRA, we have already announced that June 16 is the deadline for mobile phone owners to have their handsets approved, after which the ‘fake’ handsets will be disabled,” Mungy said.

He added that the introduction of the CEIR system was likely to affect the majority of Tanzanians whose phones are not original.

“We want to remove fake phones that have been circulating in the local market once and for all,” he stressed.

According to Mungy, most of the 35 million-plus simcards in the country will be affected by the switch-off exercise which is aimed at protecting consumers from substandard phones, safeguard mobile payment systems, and prevent phone-related crimes.

He described counterfeit phone handsets as “copies of popular brands and models made from sub-standard materials" that have not been licensed by TCRA.

“These phones have become a menace to consumers from both a safety and security perspective,” he said.

He 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 lets them know whether or not their phone is genuine.

Some Zanzibar residents interviewed by ‘The Guardian’ expressed concern about the possible ramifications of TCRA’s switch-off exercise, including the possibility of handset price hikes caused by an increased demand for original makes.

Asha Juma, a resident of Kisonge, said she would be forced to dig deeper into her pocket for extra money to purchase a new original smartphone.

“I have never bought an original phone before because of the high price. But now I will have to start saving money to get that original phone before June,” Asha said.

She doubted whether the majority of island residents would be able to afford original phones due to envisaged skyrocketing prices.

Abdul Rashid Ali, a resident of Darajani Market, said the government should be held responsible for “the flooding of counterfeit phones on the market.”

"The blame squarely lies with the government. They have the single responsibility to ensure that all goods entering the country are of high quality,” said Ali.

In 2012, about 1.5 million Kenyans were affected by a similar switch-off exercise carried-out by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) to clamp down on counterfeit handsets.