CA sets new rules on phone imports

Are you planning to import mobile phones? The oversight agency has set 15 requirements any gadget must meet before it is allowed into Kenya.

In what could see the phasing out of low-end phones, the Communications Authority of Kenya will now demand that the imported device should have eight hours of talk time and 24 hours of standby time.

Talk time is the duration a fully charged battery can take when someone is talking on phone continuously while standby time is the duration a battery takes to discharge when the phone is switched on and connected to a network.

The device must also have room for installation of additional software and updates, a feature often absent in phones that are not running on Android, iOS or BlackBerry OS software.

CA, through a notice that took effect on Friday when the current issue of the Kenya Gazette was published, also says it must sample every phone that will be sold in the country.

“The authority is not obliged to return the mobile devices that have been submitted for type approval purposes,” the notice said.

RADIATION

Accompanying that sample should be a report of tests conducted in a facility recognised by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation.

The Communications Authority also addresses itself on the radiation a device emits, setting a mandatory figure a phone should not exceed.

The radiation is measured in terms of the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) and the authority’s limit is two watts per kilogramme of human tissue.

But even if a phone meets that, the authority says, its manufacturer would not be immune to lawsuits.

“Compliance with the radiation safety standards does not by itself confer immunity from legal obligations and requirements imposed by national health or safety authorities,” says the notice signed by CA director-general Francis Wangusi.

SILENT MODE

Another requirement is that the phone’s International Mobile Equipment Identity (Imei) number should be accepted in the Global System Mobile Association database.

Other requirements include user manuals, provision of an earpiece and having the ability to lock to one service provider.

A phone must also have the volume control capability that allows users to set it either on loud, vibration or silent mode.

The 15 requirements will be an addition to a form that ICT device importers have been using to seek CA clearance since 2014.

The 2014 rules require details such as equipment category, output power, SAR among others.

In 2015, the authority embarked on switching off counterfeit mobile phones but its efforts were largely hampered by automated systems to authenticate phone serial numbers.