India's government has slapped a ban on the importing of mobile phones that do not come supplied with an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. Typically, low-cost handsets from Chinese manufacturers come with supplied without unique IMEIs.
The IMEI is supposed to be both 15-digits in length, and unique to the handset. Recent reports have claimed that the operators are detecting up 1,000 handsets all sharing the same serial number. Although the serial number does not affect the billing, which is managed by SIM identities, it does add an extra layer of proof for the police if checking who made a phone call from a specific handset. As the IMEI is transmitted when a handset connects to the mobile network, access by that handset can be blocked by the network operator - a facility which is often used to prevent stolen handsets being reused with a replacement SIM card.
The issue has become a hot topic after such phones were allegedly used by terrorists, and the lack of unique IMEI made it impossible to prove who made or received specific phone calls as they couldn't be traced to a specific handset.
The Director-General of Foreign Trade issued the notification on Wednesday imposing the ban with immediate effect.
Welcoming the decision, Mr Pankaj Mohindroo, President, Indian Cellular Association, said, "This is a step in the right direction to throttle handset grey market. However, much more needs to be done to tackle this menace. We are working with the Government in this regard."
The operators were also faced with an order to block all handsets already in use that do not have a valid unique IMEI, which could have cut off some 30 million customers. However, the industry has secured an agreement to delay the cut-off while handsets are reprogrammed with new IMEI's. Any handsets that are not reprogrammed will be cut off at the end of this month.
Posted to the site on 18th June 2009
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/38078.php