The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has threatened to punish telecommunication companies that use substandard infrastructure.

Speaking at a workshop in Lagos, NCC executive vice chairman, Eugene Juwah, said that the commission is aware of the proliferation of substandard phones and other equipment by “unpatriotic people” in the industry.

Represented by Dr. Balarabe Sani, the NCC director for technical standard and network Integrity, the NCC executive said that the regulatory body plans to implement “proper” sanctions against such companies that engaged in the illegal act.

“The use of non-approved equipment types is not only detrimental to human health but also contributes to the poor quality of service in the industry,” said Sani.

He said it was a punishable offence to import or sale communications equipment prior to obtaining a type approval certificate from the commission.

NCC organised the Thursday workshop in Lagos to explore the telecommunication equipment type approval.

The organisation said the aim of the event was to inform and educate stakeholders and the general public on the need to ensure that all telecom equipment used in the local market are fully approved by the commission to ensure safety and compliance with international standards.

Meanwhile, officials said the NCC has strengthened compliance monitoring and enforcement of its activities by creating a fully-fledged department headed by a director.

“This is aimed at improving our surveillance activities and to ensure full compliance to standards by all stakeholders,” Sani said.

Juwah also announced that NCC would soon review the costs payable for equipment type approval (ETA).

Justifying the plans, he said the costs of ETA had remained unchanged in the last decade.