ADDIS ABABA: Following in regional neighbors in East Africa, Rwanda announced that it would turn off counterfeit phones in the country. According to a report published by ITWeb Africa, the country's regulator, Rwanda Utilities Regulator Agency (RURA), counterfeit handsets will be turned off their networks. RURA's Director General Regis Gatarayiha had announced on Wednesday that fake mobile phones handsets were “affecting the quality of communication and posing a health risk to users." “We are going to work on a methodology to disconnect fake phones off the network and we shall work with telecom companies," he said. “This is going to be worked on as soon as possible,” Gatarayiha revealed. “It's an initiative that has been agreed upon within the East African Communications Organisation (EACO),” Gatarayiha said. EACO is the regional body which brings together regulatory, postal, telecommunications and broadcasting organizations in the East African Community (EAC). In Kenya, the government began switching off mobile phones this week and saw a reported one million users blacked out for using counterfeit phones not registered with the government. Uganda has given its citizens until March next year to register their phones or face a similar turning off. RURA said in a statement that it was working on a plan, which would see a directive to switch the fake phones off the networks be announced. In Kigali, all unregistered handsets and those with non-authentic Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) are considered to be counterfeit and “will be disconnected from networks," according to RURA.
