The National Communications Authority (NCA) will, from April this year, seize and destroy any communications gadget, especially cellular phones, whose manufacturers do not have the NCA certification called Type Approval.
Such phones, tablets and laptops will not be allowed into the country and those that find their way in will be seized and destroyed.
A Manager at the NCA, Mr Isaac Boateng, gave the hint at a public sensitisation workshop on Type Approval and Dealership Licensing in Kumasi.
Objective
The main objective of Type Approval is to ensure that all equipment used comply with international standards that protect consumers from products that are hazardous.
It is also to ensure that the operations of such equipment do not affect in any way the normal functioning of other equipment or the health of people around the operational areas.
Some of the standards have been set by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNRP).
Mr Boateng explained that under the protocol, manufacturers would have to subject their products to the strict safety and technical scrutiny of the NCA before they would be assigned Type Approval for such gadgets to be allowed into the country.
Act 769
The NCA is empowered, under Section 3 of the NCA Act 769 of 2008, to certify and ensure the testing of communications equipment for compliance with international standards and environmental, health and safety standards, including electromagnetic radiation and emissions.
Regulations 78 and 79 of the Electronic Communications Regulations, LI1991, enjoin the NCA to ensure that communications equipment used for radio transmission for commercial purposes is duly type approved.
Mr Boateng said apart from the punitive measures that would stop the importation of substandard gadgets, those manufacturers who would secure the NCA Type Approval would have advantage over those who did not.
“That is because customers would prefer to purchase gadgets with NCA Type Approval, he said.
Dealership Approval Movement
Speaking on conformance regime for digital terrestrial television, Mr Roland Kofogia, an official of the NCA, said as the nation prepared to move to terrestrial television, Ghanaians must look out for NCA certified television and digital boxes before purchasing them.
He said the introduction of terrestrial television would bring high quality pictures and excellent sound quality to viewers, while the nation would also be able to put more than 20 television stations on one frequency.
Currently, each television station uses one frequency.