NCC urges Nigerians to verify phones with *315# before purchase

By James Ike

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has urged Nigerians to verify the status of mobile phones with its device checker code, *315#, before purchasing them to avoid buying unapproved or improperly functioning devices.

The commission said the verification could be carried out through the code or its website to determine whether a phone had received type approval and had been verified for use on Nigerian mobile networks.

Speaking on Newsnight on Arise Television, the NCC’s Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Eduyemi Ogoh, said the measure was particularly important for people buying second-hand phones and devices imported from abroad.

“Before you buy the phone, dial *315# and confirm that the phone is fully verified before you pay,” Ogoh advised prospective buyers.

He explained that the device checker was introduced as part of the commission’s statutory responsibility under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 to protect consumers and address complaints about poor network service associated with mobile devices.

According to him, the initiative is designed to ensure that mobile devices entering the Nigerian market meet the required standards and function properly on local telecommunications networks.

“The whole intent of [type approval] is to ensure that every device coming into the country is genuine and works the way it should work,” he said.

Ogoh said consumers deserved the assurance that their money was being spent on genuine devices that met the required technical standards, rather than inferior products or imitations.

He said the commission had discovered that some complaints about poor network quality could be traced to the mobile devices used by subscribers, rather than the telecommunications networks themselves.

The NCC director warned that unapproved or improperly functioning phones could affect not only their owners but also other subscribers within the same geographical area.

Explaining the verification process, Ogoh said buyers could dial *315# and follow the prompts to enter the International Mobile Equipment Identity, IMEI, number of the phone they intended to purchase.

The IMEI is a unique identification number assigned to each mobile device, and Ogoh advised prospective buyers to obtain the number from sellers and verify the device before making payment.

He, however, clarified that a phone that failed the verification process was not automatically counterfeit, explaining that type approval and device verification were two distinct processes.

According to him, type approval involves laboratory testing of a phone model to establish whether it meets the applicable technical standards and can function properly on Nigerian mobile networks.

Device verification, on the other hand, confirms whether an individual handset has been registered on the NCC’s device checker system through its IMEI number.

“Type approval is done just once per model,” he said, explaining that manufacturers, vendors and importers, rather than individual buyers, were responsible for obtaining the required approval.

Ogoh disclosed that the enhanced compliance process applied to devices brought into Nigeria from October 7, while phones already operating on Nigerian networks as of midnight on October 6 had been onboarded and verified.

He said the commission had registered approximately 231 million devices already operating on the country’s telecommunications networks before the commencement of the new compliance process.

“We know that people have spent their money to do this, so you cannot be asking them to go and throw those phones out,” he said, reassuring existing users that their devices would not be discarded simply because of the introduction of the enhanced process.

Addressing concerns about privacy, Ogoh said the verification system relied solely on the device’s IMEI and did not grant the commission access to users’ calls, contacts, text messages or other information stored on their phones.

He added that the initiative would help consumers make informed purchasing decisions, avoid unexpected problems with their devices and determine whether an unapproved handset was responsible for poor network performance.

Ogoh advised subscribers experiencing difficulties with the device checker to dial 315 for assistance, while consumers with other complaints could contact the NCC through its dedicated consumer complaint line, 622.