Nov

21

Determine if your cellphone is fake – phones with fake IMEI to be banned from 1 December

November 21, 2009 | 1 Comment





The Indian cellphone market was inundated with a huge number of fake cellphones. These cellphones, made in China, met a need of the market since they were much cheaper than the large brand cellphones, and yet provided facilities that were only available in the much more expensive cellphones. However, there was a major problem with these cellphones in the sense that they did not have a genuine International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) (which is a 15 digit code that can uniquely identify a mobile, and which is important to have from a security point of view). In the case of a terror threat or other criminal activity, a phone with IMEI can help security agencies track down the mobile phone much easier, something that is not possible if the phone has a fake IMEI, or if the phone does not have a IMEI at all.
As a result, the security agencies have ensured that fake IMEI’s are banned from the market, and this will come into effect from 1 December. Now, there is a campaign on to ensure that dealers no longer are selling these mobile phones with fake IMEI, and all purchasers should ensure that they are aware of this concept and ban (link to article):

As per estimates of the Indian Cellular Association, around 25 million unbranded mobile handsets, sans genuine International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), would be disconnected by next month. With the nearing of the deadline announced by the department of telecommunication (DoT) to ban fake mobile phones on December 1 this year, the Indian Cellular Association (ICA) has appealed to both consumers and traders to desist from purchasing and indulging in transaction of such devices.
IMEI is a unique 15-digit code that identifies a mobile. It prevents the use of stolen handsets for making calls and allows security agencies to track down a specific user.



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Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. Gourav Sharma on December 2, 2009 5:08 pm

    I think it is a Good step from Dot , now further They should
    take some strict action against those who changes IMEI and should ban on equipments used in it like UK Gov.

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