SON, ATCON on collision course over quality of fake phones

…Fake phones can be of acceptable quality– SON

…You cannot say a fake phone can meet standards- ATCON

Ladesope Ladelokun

Despite the worry expressed by industry experts about the influx of fake phones into the Nigerian market, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has said fake products; including phones could be of acceptable quality.

The spokesman of the agency, Mr Bola Fashina, in an exclusive interview with The Daily Times explained that a fake phone, like any other product imported or produced in Nigeria, means a product that is not original, noting that it is not the same as saying it is not of acceptable quality.

Fashina said producers of fake phones leverage on the brands that are already existing and doing well in the market. While Fashina agrees that a lot of fake phones are substandard, he said some fake phones or products can still be of acceptable quality.

“When you say something is fake, what it means is that it is not original but that is not the same as whether it is not of the quality or not. I agree that a lot of fake products are substandard but not all”, he said.

On what SON is doing to curb the circulation of fake phones, he said the agency had developed its own mechanism of dealing with the issue.

He said the agency had recently raided some markets in some parts of the country after surveillance and tests were conducted following complaints by Nigerians about the presence of fake and substandard phones in them.

“We have developed the capacity to be able to check the quality of products, including phones. For every one that we are able to sample, we can test and ascertain the quality to determine whether it is of good quality that is acceptable in Nigeria or not.

If it is not, we seize them. We have even had cases where we have complaints and based on those complaints, we have gone to markets to do market surveillance.

“When we do such after testing and finding out the phones are not of quality. We go to the market and raid. Recently, we have done the same in Lagos, we did in Abuja.

We did in as far as Awka. We did in Kano. We are partnering with NCC. But that will be based on the information available to us laboratory tests and analyses to determine the quality of the product.”

Commenting, President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr Olusola Teniola, says manufacturers of fake phones are not driven by standards, and it cannot be correct to say a fake phone can meet standards.

“Manufacturers of fake phones are not driven by standards, they are driven by price. And with cheaper price comes cheaper components which means they are not built to the standards expected.

A fake phone is a copy of the original. The original manufacturer of a phone will always meet 100 per cent of the standards.

Because they are fake by nature, they are not obliged to meet standards. You cannot say a fake phone can meet standards. That is not correct”, he said.