The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has added 42 brands to the list of approved phones for use in Nigeria.
According to the telecommunications regulator, the number of approved phones in the country as of August 27, 2024, is now 2,303, an increase from 2,257 as of June 6, 2024.
As of December 2023, Nigeria’s number of approved phone types stood at 2,100.
NCC said:
“The Nigerian Communications Commission is empowered by the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 to establish and enforce standards for all telecommunications equipment in operation in the Federal Republic of Nigeria to ensure that they operate seamlessly and safely within the Nigerian telecommunications environment.
“To ensure maximum interoperability and affordability for consumers, the Type Approval standards set by the NCC are based on international standards from; The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and its International Special Committee on Radio Interference (CISPR), The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Note that Nigeria is an associate member of IEC through the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and could become an associate member of CENELEC and ETSI.
“All equipment manufacturers, vendors and operators, including customer devices such as mobile phones and wireless adapters, must therefore ensure that their equipment conform to the applicable standards as mandated by the Commission before bringing them into Nigeria.”
Approved phones in Nigeria
Analysis of NCC data showed that a Chinese company, the Transsion Group, dominates the Nigerian market.
The Transsion Group manufactures the Tecno, Inifnix, and Itel brands, which have the largest number of approved phones in the Nigerian market.
Here is a list of some of the smartphones approved.
- iPhones models
- Samsung models
- Redmi
- Techno
- Infinix
- Alcatel
- Vivo
- Huawei
- Fly MX 200
- HTC S620
- Lava Z93
A complete list of the over 2,000 phone models approved can be found here.
