I think the strategy they are taking is in destroying the demand for the IMEI-less phones. No demand no sales, no import. Flawed yes but how would you go about it?<div><br></div><div>I do not think letting KEBS off the hook is a good idea. Who's responsibility is it to ensure standards? If any KEBS inspector walked to Luthuli undercover and bought several handsets that were found to not be up to par then the institution has a mandate to confiscate and burn the damned things the way they do it with fake cigarettes. They are liable for the proliferation just like the border guys. Tell me why aren't toyota side mirrors stolen in Uganda?<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 5:35 PM, Chris Foster <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:cgfoster@gmail.com" target="_blank">cgfoster@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Just to make a few points on this thread: <br><br>First, for such phones it is pretty difficult for consumers to tell the difference between a real or fake. <br><br>For example, buying a mobile from a street side shop in the likes of Luthuli Ave doesn't mean that it is illegal. Much stock from there is bought thorough the legal channels, also some of the Chinese brands are above board and even (as far as I understand) Dubai 'grey' market imports should still be functional. So I'm not sure how you would know, except of course if you buy a NokLa :-).....<br>
<br>Second, is KEBS the real evil in this case? <br><br>There's a huge amount of stuff which comes into the country without being stamped and approved, that is a fact of life and that will continue. It seems better to target the smaller number of large mobile importers/wholesales and set out a stall. Otherwise in a few months time disabling over million phones will be for nothing when the counterfeit firms start implanting fake IMEIs<br>
<br>Thanks<br>Chris<br><br><font><span style="font-size:10pt">-- <br>
Christopher Foster<br>
PhD Researcher, Centre for Development Informatics (CDI)<br>
University of Manchester, UK<br>
</span></font><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="h5">On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 2:41 PM, Odhiambo Washington <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:odhiambo@gmail.com" target="_blank">odhiambo@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
</div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div class="h5">
@Muraya,<br><br>You appear to be distorting facts. I haven't seen any phone with a KeBS certification. I'll check the phone boxes again today.<br><br>Whenever a phone is upgraded, there is never an interference with the IMEI, as it is stored in the NVRAM (I suppose that's the name) and is never part of the OS partition else those of us who install unofficial ROMs on these phones would have lost their IMEIs ages ago.<br>
<br>You sure your phone isn't Smsung? :)<br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div>On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 4:06 PM, S.M. Muraya <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:murigi.muraya@gmail.com" target="_blank">murigi.muraya@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
</div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div>My phone (with a safaricom line) is KeBS certified but has just been switched off.<div>
<br></div><div>Checking the IMEI it is all 000000000....</div>
<div><br></div><div>Also just remembered the OS was upgraded by a Samsung certified vendor - 2 years ago.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Whatever they did, they probably never restored the IMEI while upgrading the OS.</div><div><br></div><div>Off to a safaricom shop which will probably refer me to the Samsung Disti <img src="cid:33D@goomoji.gmail" style="margin:0px 0.2ex;vertical-align:middle" goomoji="33D"><br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div>On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 3:11 PM, John Gitau <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jgitau@gmail.com" target="_blank">jgitau@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div><div>
I'm not sure I understand where KEBS failed. Unless the phones being switched off were actually certified by KEBS. <br><br>What we need is proper consumer advocacy/education. For many many things. The consumers should know where to buy proper phones, and maybe some entity like cck should take on the task of educating us (which they do), carriers should ensure the sim is registered and an IMEI registers but they cant be expected to know which are fake/accurate either. in the end the consumer will bear the burden, if only to serve as a lesson. Then someone at our borders obviously fails us.<br>
<br>jgitau<br><br><br>
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