According to Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), about 3,000,000 counterfeit phones in the market stand to be switched off on 30 September 2012. This translates to about 10 percent of the phones in the market, majority of which are held by Safaricom subscribers. A further study by CCK revealed that the people to be affected most by the switch off are the middle class members of the society.

Speaking to press, Francis Wangusi, CCK Director General said, “The people to be affected most by this purge are the middle class because they are the people who are rushing on to buy phones with several functionalities but they don’t want to part with sufficient money to buy the genuine ones.”

Why counterfeit phones flood our market

“I have to live for others and not for myself, that’s the middle class morality.”- George Bernard (1856 – 1950)

Everybody wants to fit in. Keeping up with the Kamaus is rife in our society. Counterfeit phones are one way of making people fit into the society. Previously, phones with sophisticated features were a reserve for the wealthy. About 7 or 8 years ago, a Nokia phone with Bluetooth would cost you no less than KES 10,000. With the entry of counterfeit phones, the average Kenyan could get a Bluetooth phone for as little as KES 5,000; over time this price has dropped further. Counterfeit phones come with top notch features such as an inbuilt TV, memory card reader, camera, etc, plus dual SIM capability, all at a pocket friendly price.

Then there's the ignorance. Many Kenyans just can't distinguish between a genuine and a fake handset. An unsuspecting victim would just walk into a shop and buy a fake iPhone for about KES 20,000. Never having handled an iPhone before he wouldn't know what to expect from the phone. For the longest time he would think he had a genuine phone. Owning his fake iPhone made him feel as though he was in the minority league of iPhone device holders. At least until Sunday at midnight.

It’s no secret that looks can be deceiving. Most counterfeit phones look almost identical to genuine ones. Victor Muisyo, a Nairobian(and staff writer at a certain personal finance e-zine), unknowingly bought two counterfeit phones. One of them looked identical to a Samsung and had an almost similar brand name: SUMSNANG. It’s after a closer look, and a couple of laughs, that he later learned that he owned a fake device.

Campus life is always a competition between the haves and the have not’s. Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, owning a Sony radio in you campus room earned you recognition. Sony was an expensive brand so most guys went for SANYO radios which were cheaper, removed the “A” from the brand and replaced it the “O” and you got yourself a “SONY” radio. The society has evolved and owning a sophisticated phone while still in school gets you recognition.

Even campuses are not that far behind. A great deal of the students on campus own counterfeit phones. Most of these students are guys from the rural area, or lower middle class families who have never owned a phone. On receiving their first HELB loan they dash to the shop and get the closest, cheapest "cool" phone they can find.

A Comfort or a Menace?

According to CCK, counterfeit phones are a menace that need to be done away with. The regulator claims that counterfeit handsets are a risk to our health since they have not been tested and certified. Chances are they may emit high levels of radiation than is recommended.

There are instances where counterfeit phones come with duplicated IMEI which make it difficult for law enforcement agents to track down criminals who use mobile phones to commit crimes.

There is also question about the quality of counterfeit phones.

Despite all the above negative qualities, counterfeit phones have made one positive contribution to the society. They have over time proven to be a competition to genuine phones, forcing genuine mobile phone manufactures to produce cheaper sophisticated phones that the average citizen can afford.

Samsung for instance have the Samsung Ch@t 222 device which has a QWERTY keyboard, dual SIM, free chat with chat on, email, facebook and twitter, at an average price of KES 5,499. Before counterfeit phones flood our market, such a phone could have cost you less than KES 20,000.

We now have genuine phones that will cost you less than KES 1,000, Click here to check them out.

Despite their many weaknesses, counterfeit phones have helped make genuine phones more affordable for the local citizen who wants to own a sophisticated phone.

Is the switch off the ultimate solution?

The four mobile operators yesterday announced that they had all adapted to the system that will switch off all counterfeit phones on 30 September 2012. They all though maintained that switching off counterfeit phones isn’t the ultimate solution, there’s need to block counterfeit phones from accessing the market.

Speaking to the media, Yu Mobile Country Manager, Madhur Taneja said, “The government will have to stop the manufacturers from bringing the phones into the country, stop retailers from selling it, and of course bring more and more information and controls at the level of the handsets.”

A representative from Airtel Kenya added that, “Eradication of the problem comes from the availability of these handsets. We need to curtail it at this point and time.”

At the end of the day the government has it failures in containing the counterfeit phone problem. These phones have been available in the market for close to 10 years now. CCK says at least 3,000,000 are doing the rounds in the market. Chances are some of those who own these phones don’t know that they own counterfeit phones. The solution to this problem would have been to deal with these phones when were first coming into the market rather than deal with them when they account for 10 percent of the phones in the market.

I predict that some drama will unfold after the switch off on 30 September 2012.

Let’s wait and see. *grabs popcorn*