Cambodia telecom regulator warned sellers over unlicensed device imports

The May notice was about importer compliance

The Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) said it had identified traders and wholesale distributors handling devices sold under Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO, Tecno, Infinix, itel, Nubia, RedMagic, Asus, Nothing, OnePlus, Google Pixel, Blackview, Black Shark and KOSPET without the required regulatory documents.

Three separate requirements appeared in the notice. The business importing and distributing telecom equipment needed Qualified Agent status. Each device model needed its own Type Approval, and the equipment also had to be imported under a TRC import permit. The regulator said the unauthorised activity breached Articles 15 and 16 of Cambodia’s Telecommunications Law.

Affected businesses were told to stop unlawful import and distribution and were given 30 days from the May notice to apply for QA certification and meet the other requirements. That deadline has long passed, so it should be read as part of the original enforcement action, not as a new compliance window today.

The scope matters for consumers. TRC addressed importers, wholesalers, retailers and shops; it did not declare every Xiaomi, Pixel, OnePlus or other named device illegal simply because of the brand on the box.

For practical context, see Cambodia market and country comparisons. This development also connects with Mekong Growth Fund targets $200m–$500m after Cambodia deal.

Buyers now have live TRC registers to check

Cambodia’s regulator maintains searchable lists of qualified import agents and type-approved telecom equipment. By September 2026, the qualified-agent register had been updated on 2 September and the type-approved equipment database on 22 September. Those records give buyers a more current reference point than the brand list in the May announcement.

A useful check is whether the seller can identify the importer, whether that company appears as a qualified agent, and whether the exact model appears in the Type Approval database. Those public lists do not by themselves prove the import permit for a particular shipment, so documentation on the product’s origin can still matter when a seller’s supply chain is unclear.

TRC also issued a separate announcement on 22 September concerning counterfeit and second-hand telecom equipment imported from abroad. That later notice again relied on QA and Type Approval requirements, showing that device-origin and approval checks remain an active enforcement issue. It should not, however, be used to assume that every product under the brands named in May remained non-compliant months later.