ADDIS ABABA: On Monday, Kenya's move to crackdown on counterfeit mobile phones went into effect, with phone subscribers using any fake hand device would see their services cut. The country-wide crackdown could see thousands of customers have no mobile phone access starting Monday. Local media reports that as many as three million Kenyans could see their service go dark. Although mixed reactions have been seen in the country, IT experts and mobile phone operators say the government move is a positive step in creating a market for cheaper hand devices, which China's Huawei has already begun filling in the country. The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) believes that by working with mobile phone operators to develop a database of all proper phones in the country will help boost the industry, but if a customer's phone ID number is not on the current list, deactivation will occur. Francis Wangusi, Director General of the CCK said at a press conference discussing the move that “security is the country's primary concern, particularly as many Kenyans use their phones to conduct money transfers through programs like M-Pesa." He added in comments to Voice of America: “One of the things is that we are pre-empting what possibly could happen just in case criminals become smarter, to try an use the invalidity of the IMEI numbers on counterfeit mobile phones to be able to escape the police dragnet in case they have used it for intruding into the M-Pesa system,” said Wangusi.
