Nokia, the biggest manufacturer of phones held a ‘Meet and Greet’ session at the Novotel Hotel on Dec 7th, to address the issues of counterfeit phones on the Ghanaian mobile market. With the release of its dual-sim range, Nokia seeks to educate Ghana mobile users against the patronage of fake phones. The Country Manager, listed and explained the dangers involved in the patronage of fake mobile devices by a nation;

Effects on the nation; Ghana as a nation losses close to USD 20 million due to the fact that the importers of such fake devices do not pay the right taxes to the government. Aside that such phones  do not come with IMEI numbers thus telecom operators are unable to track the activities on these devices, making it easy for persons with bad intentions to execute their acts.

Effects on the citizens; Fake mobile devices are not assessed by authorities to evaluate whether or not mobile standards are met. This poses health risks to the mobile users in country. Aside this health risk, fake phone are unable to access the Internet therefore acting us a barrier to the developer communities springing up in Ghana when web apps are launched for the public consumption.

David Anku, the Retail Customer Marketing Manager hinted Nokia was working on an SMS verification system which will be launched early next year to assist the public identify which devices are fake and which ones aren’t. To discourage the use of fake mobile phone among the media personnel present, Nokia issued every individual present with a brand new Nokia X1-01 among other items.