The Ibadan Zonal Controller of NCC, Yomi Arowosafe, gave the charge during a sensitisation workshop on “Effect of non-type approved handsets on QoS and E-waste” held in Osun State recently.
Arowosafe told phone dealers, under the aegis of the GSM Repairs and Maintenance Association (GREMA) that type approval is the process by which the Commission certifies that a device meets a minimum set of regulatory, technical and safety requirements before its entry into the market for sale.
E-waste, on the other hand, describes discarded electrical or electronic devices, especially telecom devices. He stressed that e-waste gets compounded and becomes threat when substandard devices with limited durability are sold by phone dealers and patronised by telecom consumers, leading to incriminate disposal of such used electronic devices within the environment.
According to the Zonal Controller, the sensitisation workshop was in line with the Commission’s regulatory mandate of educating stakeholders, improving QoS, ensuring sales and patronage of only type-approved handsets and creating a good healthy environment devoid of e-waste.
He explained that the Commission uses international-best-practice standards to type approve telecom devices in order to ensure seamless interoperability across mobile networks and prevent QoS degradation as a result of substandard devices getting connected to the networks.
He enjoined the phone dealers and telecom consumers to check the list of type-approved devices on the Commission’s website before taking their purchase decision, stressing that because non-type approved ICT equipment negatively impacts QoS, revenue accruable to Federal Government and breeds e-waste with potential health risk, “it is a punishable offence for anyone to go against the approved standards.”
Lawal Adebayo, GREMA Chairman, while speaking on behalf of the phone dealers and repairers, applauded the NCC for organising the workshop for the association members, promising that GREMA members across the state would ensure strict adherence to set standards by the Commission.