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Chinese Handsets Without IMEI Number Get Barred
Techtree News Staff, Apr 14, 2009 1441 hrs ISTAlert consumers through text messages
GSM mobile operators have begun barring services to IMEI-less handsets that are in circulation in the country, starting 13 April 2009.
The DoT (Department of Telecommunications) had issued a deadline of April 15 for the operators to block such phones from accessing their networks, and it seems that this time, the operators are enforcing the directive.
Many operators over the past few weeks have been alerting consumers, who are in possession of IMEI-less handsets, through text messages about the directive. The messages were at times followed by calls, which directed users to switch to legal handsets or face being disconnected from the service.
Also Read: Own a Chinese phone? Check Your IMEI Now!
With rough estimates of the number of illegal phones in the 25 million range, operators were initially keen to find a way out of this tangle such that their customer base is not affected. One of the ideas put forward by them was to "legalize" these handsets by assigning them IMEI numbers. This was, however, not approved by the TRAI, citing the possibility of loopholes in the software that assigns the IMEI. With that door shut and the March 31 deadline ending, the operators seem to have been left with no choice but to comply with the directive. With the new April 15 deadline giving them a breather, it seems that the door is finally being shut on illegal Chinese handsets. At this moment, there is no clarity on how this directive will affect handsets that have spoofed IMEIs. This is obviously a big problem because a phone with a spoofed IMEI could land a person who is in possession of a genuine handset in trouble.
Even now, there is little transparency in the actual process of screening all such handsets. It is a massive procedure and, as of now, we are unsure as to how soon the market will be free of them; 25 million is no small number by any means. Or is this a futile exercise in the name of security? We have a poor record of tracing even legal handsets that possess IMEIs. IMEI blocks, which are in vogue in the UK and other countries, where a "reported" handset is blacklisted and denied access to networks if it's reported stolen, is not in place in India. Anyone who has had an experience of losing a phone might have a good idea about this issue.
What we can do, however, is to play the wait and watch game. In the meantime, you might want to stall your plans to purchase one of those feature-packed (illegal) Chinese phones.
The DoT (Department of Telecommunications) had issued a deadline of April 15 for the operators to block such phones from accessing their networks, and it seems that this time, the operators are enforcing the directive.
Many operators over the past few weeks have been alerting consumers, who are in possession of IMEI-less handsets, through text messages about the directive. The messages were at times followed by calls, which directed users to switch to legal handsets or face being disconnected from the service.
Also Read: Own a Chinese phone? Check Your IMEI Now!
With rough estimates of the number of illegal phones in the 25 million range, operators were initially keen to find a way out of this tangle such that their customer base is not affected. One of the ideas put forward by them was to "legalize" these handsets by assigning them IMEI numbers. This was, however, not approved by the TRAI, citing the possibility of loopholes in the software that assigns the IMEI. With that door shut and the March 31 deadline ending, the operators seem to have been left with no choice but to comply with the directive. With the new April 15 deadline giving them a breather, it seems that the door is finally being shut on illegal Chinese handsets. At this moment, there is no clarity on how this directive will affect handsets that have spoofed IMEIs. This is obviously a big problem because a phone with a spoofed IMEI could land a person who is in possession of a genuine handset in trouble.
Even now, there is little transparency in the actual process of screening all such handsets. It is a massive procedure and, as of now, we are unsure as to how soon the market will be free of them; 25 million is no small number by any means. Or is this a futile exercise in the name of security? We have a poor record of tracing even legal handsets that possess IMEIs. IMEI blocks, which are in vogue in the UK and other countries, where a "reported" handset is blacklisted and denied access to networks if it's reported stolen, is not in place in India. Anyone who has had an experience of losing a phone might have a good idea about this issue.
What we can do, however, is to play the wait and watch game. In the meantime, you might want to stall your plans to purchase one of those feature-packed (illegal) Chinese phones.
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(4) Comments
abhishek jain
,damoh, on Nov 30, 2009 04:24 PM
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MUZAMMIL
,NOIDA, on Nov 13, 2009 01:10 PM
richie
,bangalore, on Apr 15, 2009 07:12 AM
Prasanna
,Mumbai, on Apr 14, 2009 06:35 PM
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