FOR many people, unless their mobile phone handsets bear prestigious branding such as Sony-Xperia, Samsung-Galaxy or Apple’s iPhone, they live in constant fear thinking their gadgets are destined for a shutdown on June 16.
But the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), has assured Tanzanians that most of the existing handsets in the country are genuine and will pass the June 16th switch-off which targets to disable all counterfeit phones.
“The number of counterfeit mobile handsets has dropped to 18 percent as of late, from the previous 30 percent,” pointed out the Director General of Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), Dr Ally Simba, during a training session to highlight the looming June 16th switch-off.
According to Dr Simba, the number of fake handsets has dropped because many people rushed to exchange their gadgets with genuine ones, following an extensive mass education program that has been conducted by TCRA across the country.
He pointed out that as of this year the number of registered Subscriber Identity Modules or SIM cards has reached 36 million; “Which is a remarkable increase from the three million SIM cards that existed in 2005,” said Dr Simba.
Still within the 36 million phone lines, it has been found that in Tanzania a country with a population of 45 million, a single person can own up to four SIM cards from different operators in a bid to reduce interconnection costs.
Leading Cellular Phone Service providers includes; the oldest Tigo, formerly Mobitel, the leading Vodacom, the popular Airtel (formerly Zain and previously Celtel), the latest and rapidly growing, Halotel and the state-owned, Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL). There is also data oriented, Smile (Internet) and the little known Smart Communications.
Between these, Tanzanians are able to enjoy 2G, 3G and simulated 4G services for their voice and data communications. As for the alleged counterfeit phone handsets, the TCRA Director General warned that, such fake mobile phones not only seem to be dangerous due to their unchecked emissions but also susceptible to explode at any moment.
