Egyptians angry at banning made-in-China mobile phones
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In Abdel Aziz Street in downtown Cairo, the most famous market for electronic devices, Mohamed el- Khteib, a mobile phone shop owner, was waving to passersby, trying hard to persuade them to buy his made-in-China mobile phones. Egypt's National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) announced in February that the country's three mobile operators would block service to all anonymous users and made-in-China cell phones which have repetitive serial numbers.
NTRA officials said the ban is still in force in April, adding that it is impossible to cut the service from all the unknown mobile phones at the same time as the market may be shocked.
The decision of NTRA came as it sees that these phones affect Egyptians' health and they can not be traced because they hold the same serial numbers of the well known international mobile brands.
"I have been selling made-in-China mobile phones for two years, none of my customers complained of any healthy problem," said el- Khteib.
Made-in-China mobile phones flooded into the Egyptian market six years ago, posing fierce competition to other brands. The number of made-in-China mobile phones is estimated at more than 2 million in Egypt.
"I believe that the decision of the Egyptian government to ban these phones is wrong as it affects our business badly," said Abo Seif, who owns a mobile phone shop in the same street.
"Before the ban, I sold 100 made-in-China mobile phones every day, but now, I sell just five to 10 per day," Abo Seif complained.
Vodafone, one of the mobile service operators in Egypt, announced on Saturday that it had banned more than 59,000 unregistered mobile phones, denying that these phones are made-in- China only and asserting that most of the best mobile phones are made in China.
The made-in-China phones are cheap enough to meet the needs of people with limited incomes in the country, its price starts from 150 Egyptian pounds (about 27 U.S. dollars).
The ratio of poor Egyptians to the country's whole population reached 23.4 percent in the fiscal year from July 2008 to June 2009, compared to 20 percent in the previous fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the economic growth in Egypt registered 7.4 percent in the fiscal year from July 2008 to June 2009 against 7.2 percent in the previous fiscal year.
"Chinese gadgets have very good features, music player, two cameras, Bluetooth, two SIMs, above all the low price," said Nadia Mustafa, a user of made-in-China mobile phone.
"No doubt, made-in-China mobile phones have great advantages," said Mahfouze Helali, who has two Chinese phones.
Despite NTRA's decision, some Egyptians are still willing to use made-in-China phones.
"Even if these mobile phones were banned, I will buy the latest model at the lowest price," said Ali Ahmed, a made-in-China mobile phone user.
"I had been using this phone till the ban is imposed," said Esam Salam, a 29-year-old journalist, wondering why the Egyptian government had allowed these phones to enter if they would ban them later.
The ban affects not only mobile phone businessmen, but also those who sell mobile phone accessories. Their businesses retreated as they count on users of Chinese mobile phones in the first place.
"The ban affected our business too, I sell less mobile phone accessories than before," said Alaa Mohamed, the owner of a mobile phone accessories shop.
Some other users of made-in-China mobile phones expressed their happiness when they were told that their phones' types will not be banned as they meet the Egyptian quality requirements.
"I was so happy when a friend told me that my phone is approved," said Samir Ali, a Chinese phone user.
