Monitoring the quality of cellular phones has entered its first phase with the sensitising of several dealers across the country.
Senior Inspector with the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) Jermaine Softley said, so far the bureau has done a countrywide surveiy of cellular phone dealers and talked to them about a programme to have phones labelled.
This would tell a customer whether a phone they are about to purchase is new or refurbished. The programme would require all cell phone dealers to be registered with the bureau as importers or retailers at a cost of $15,000. So far only two dealers have actually come forward to register. The bureau will begin to work with dealers on an individual basis during October. He noted when they begin to visit these dealers if they choose not to comply the bureau would then use the powers vested in it by the GNBS Act to put a hold on that dealer's phones until a solution can be worked out.
The GNBS is hoping that dealers would register and seek to be in compliance with their programme.
Softley noted that some dealers have already been labelling phones as well as importing phones with less airtime than they previously did. In addition they have been amicably dealing with complaints raised by customers.
This programme actually got off the ground in June with a meeting attended by representatives from GT&T, cellular phone retailers and service providers at GNBS Exhibition Site, Sophia.
At that meeting several suggestions were raised as to how the Bureau should act on improving the supply of cellular phones. Mark Peters, a cell phone technician from Cell Tech a repair service provider had confirmed that used phones are being retailed locally, as new, saying that several phones come to them for repairs with exchanged components.
Maxwell Thom of Wireless Connections suggested that customers should be informed of the quality phone they are purchasing but also vendors should honour warranties. He also noted that some phones are defective when exported by overseas distributors.
Michael George GT&T's Director of Marketing and Sales observed that the pressure of competition would tend to deter some retailers from labelling phones as used or reconditioned and he noted too the importance of enforcing regulations in any possible code.
He said a fund should be set up with contributions from dealers, which could be used to have technicians at the bureau's disposal to verify the status of cell phones. George also suggested implementation of an approved vendor certificate.
It was noted that because phones come into the country through a wide variety of channels, as importers attempt to avoid paying duty, it would be difficult to monitor ports of entry.
It was generally agreed that documenting complaints could assist in the sustained monitoring of the quality of phones on the market.
Investigations at various cell phone stores around the city revealed that the bureau has visited some of these outlets. These included Rite Price, B&A Connection, Cellphone Depot, and Wireless Connections. A staff member at Digicell Connection said the bureau has told them that they would be there sometime this week. B&A Connections has a sign, which notifies customers they are retailing new and refurbished phones.