Senior officials from the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) have confirmed plans to switch off telco services to counterfeit mobile handsets in that country.

Regis Gatarayiha, director general of RURA, said fake phones were affecting the quality of communication and posing a health risk to users.

Telco firms can cease services to fake handsets by identifying their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers on the network. IMEI numbers of counterfeit devices are either exact copies of codes of genuine handsets or in a sequence that does not match the standard.

“We are going to work on a methodology to disconnect fake phones off their networks and we shall work with telecom companies,” Gatarayiha explained.

"This is going to be worked on as soon as possible.

“It’s an initiative that has been agreed upon within the East African Communications Organisation (EACO)," he added.

RURA indicated that it was working out a plan and, possibly soon, a directive to switch off fake phones would be announced.

In the region, the campaign to blacklist fake mobile phones started in Kenya this week, which saw over one million mobile phones blocked on the country’s networks.

Statistics from RURA indicate that about 47.5% of Rwandans now have access to a mobile phone.