IMEI package to help ‘illegal’ mobile phone owners

Owners of handsets imported mainly from China, which lack the mandatory 'IMEI' number or have a faked one, may not have to buy a new phone after all. The Department of Telecommunications has cleared a proposal from the cellular industry to 'transplant' an IMEI number into such phones with specialised software, which will cost around Rs180.
 
The Cellular Operators Association of India has tied up with Mobile Standard Alliance of India to set up 1,600 retail outlets across the country to provide the international mobile equipment identity for handsets lacking it. IMEI is a unique 15-digit code that identifies a mobile, much like the chasis number of a car. It prevents the use of stolen handsets for making calls and allows security agencies to track down a specific user.
 
However, a number of handsets sold in the grey market do not come with the IMEI, which is of concern to security agencies. DoT had proposed to bar all mobile phones without IMEI numbers after investigations into last year's bomb blasts revealed that mobile phones used by terrorists didn't bear valid IMEI numbers. However, the operators found this a difficult and painful requirement (See: Mobile operators told to crack down on illegal phones)
 
Answering the problem, COAI has developed software that will provide the unique number to those who don't have it. However, it is a time-bound programme and envisages opening of the centres across the entire country.
 
The first 10 centres were made operational in New Delhi on Monday.

T V Ramachandran, director general, COAI, said on the occasion, "We believe that most of these handsets are owned by the 'common man', and our findings show that they have scrimped and saved for several months to buy such handsets to enhance their personal productivity and augment their income. Thus, it would be unfair and unjust to disconnect such customers as they have bought these handsets unknowingly. The GII programme is in the interest of such customers.''
 
The association has obtained IMEI numbers from GSMA, the global body that allocates these numbers. According to industry estimates, Chinese handsets account for about 13.3 per cent, or Rs4,000 crore, of India's total mobile handset market, which is pegged at around Rs30,000 crore a year.