Downtown Kampala is a hub of business transaction in Uganda and with the increase in internet penetration most citizens are acquiring smartphones. The traders have mastered the game by importing smartphone that have the latest technology but unfortunately about 40% of these are fake phones according to a 2014 survey by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).
This percentage could have increased or decreased since 2014, but this study painted a picture for UCC. As importers of these counterfeit phones make a kill, some genuine traders are counting losses. We have see big brands like Samsung and Huawei having to throw in the towel and close their agency partner branches in Uganda.
The drop in revenue is being blamed on UCC’s failure to eliminate the entry of such fake phones on the market. UCC’s head of consumer affairs Ibrabim Bbosa told NBS in a recent interview that there is surely an increase of counterfeit phones and has confirmed that the commission is in the final stages of installing monitoring gadgets that will be used to disconnect fake phones.
About a year ago UCC had set a 3 month deadline where it assured the public that all fake phones will be disconnected. Progress has been made including putting non-type approved phones on the prohibited list for EAC for custom clearance purposes. However, UCC couldn’t ascertain the exact deadline then. The commission had procured the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) that cost the carriers about USD 1 Million.
“We have been able to make progress, one in acquiring equipment that can be used to bar counterfeit phones from the respective networks. This equipment has been paid for by the telecommunication operators, the a Central Equipment Identity Register and currently it has been installed and tests are ongoing. They have just finished installing software ”
The issue of the phone being stolen and used by a 3rd party without the owner’s consent will be history according to Bbosa. This means that when the CEIR is fully operational, once a phone is stolen and has been reported by the owner, it will be be blocked and the person who has stolen it will not be able to use it even if they have changed the SIM card, he added. Those customers who buy phones will be able to know if they have invested their hard earned money into fake phones.
UCC is not exact when this equipment will be fully operational, but this will come as good news to importers of genuine phones and could attract back investors both local and international into the smartphone business. If government scraps taxes off mobile phones, the move would make genuine mobile phones affordable to the majority of Ugandans
