NCA commissions world-class lab to test imported equipment

The National Communications Authority has commissioned a world-class laboratory that would test all electronic communication equipment manufactured and imported into the country.

The Type Approval Laboratory which is the first of its kind in Africa will determine the technical requirements of communication equipment by ensuring that no substandard equipment which may present health and safety hazards to users are allowed in Ghana.

Speaking at the launch, Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful commended NCA for achieving this milestone boasting how Ghana will now be able to test and verify imported equipment.

According to her, the era of receiving castoff and e-waste electronic products from other countries without testing will be a thing of the past as equipment will now be tested and verified at the laboratory to detect any harmful radiations thereby preventing the sale of substandard products on our market.

“This is a historic day and it is one of the milestones that the NCA has achieved on its way to becoming one of the world-class regulators that we have on the continent and in the world. We cannot just continue to be the recipients of other people’s castoffs and e-wastes and it is time we also insisted that we treat our own people the way that other civilised countries treat theirs because we are amongst the committee of nations and up there with the best of them”.

NCA under its mandate is to ensure that all electronic communication equipment manufactured or imported into the country for sale or use is in compliance with the law to ensure safety and electromagnetic compatibility.

Stressing on the mandate, Communications Minister said her ministry in collaboration with NCA will make ensure that “all the equipment manufactured or imported into this country is not substandard and that will move us from the realm of guesswork to actually holding importers and manufacturers to the standards specified in the approvals for them to do the work that they are doing”.



The NCA Type Approval Testing Laboratory consists of the following:

1. A Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) lab for measuring the amount of radiations absorbed by the tissue when you using wireless electronic communication equipment such as mobile phones, tablets, wireless routers, walkie-talkie, laptops etc.

2. The lab also consists of the Radio Frequency and Signalling (RFS) lab which is meant for measuring technical requirements necessary for implementing wireless protocols such as wireless land, WCDMA, GSM, Bluetooth and other handover issues.

3. The Electromotive Force lab (EMF) lab will be used for measuring the radiations from telecommunication based stations, television and FM transmission sites.

4. The Digital Terrestrial Television Testing (DTT) lab will test various requirements needed as Ghana gears up for full DTT roll out to enable Ghana migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting.