Updated : Imported Handsets Without Imei Code Will Be Banned In India By 6 January !

[spknair 1]

IB chiefs sore over Chinese mobile phone glut

By Sify News Correspondent | Thursday, 11 September , 2008, 13:37

New Delhi: The Chinese mobile handsets that flood the Indian market may be a cause of cheer for consumers but definitely not for the Indian security agencies. The Intelligence officials are so upset that the issue is likely to be the key discussion topic at the two-day meet on terrorism starting next September 15, 2008.

The meet will be chaired by the Intelligence Bureau Chief P C Haldar and will be attended by top cops of the country, to discuss ways and means to check terror funding, besides devising institutional responses to the growing technological sophistication of terrorist outfits.

The concern about Chinese handsets stems from the fact that these mobile phones do not have any IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number on them. This makes tracing them a difficult task if terror groups choose to use them for communication and execution of their nefarious designs. The agencies fear that terrorist groups might extensively use such handsets to evade detection.

The issue also figured at a high-level meeting of the Union Home Ministry, which was chaired by Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta on August 8 in the wake of back-to-back serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad in July. The directors-general of police (DGPs) and the chief secretaries of States and Union Territories also expressed concern over the sale of Chinese handsets and the security implications related to it.

The handsets are issued in bulk by Chinese mobile phone companies in lots of 100, 1,000 and 5,000 with a common IMEI number, which makes it difficult for security agencies to track actual calls made from any of these phones. The common IMEI number for a bulk of the handsets entering the market makes it difficult for security and intelligence agencies to trace the individual mobile phone from which the calls are made.

The IMEI is a unique 17-or 15-digit code used to identify an individual mobile station to a GSM or any other network. The code is important as it uniquely identifies a specific mobile phone being used on a mobile network. The IMEI is a useful tool in preventing a stolen handset from accessing a network.

Mobile phone owners whose sets are stolen, can contact their service provider and ask it to disable a phone using the IMEI number. With an IMEI number, the phone can be blocked from the network quickly and easily.

“If a call is made from a mobile phone handset issued in a lot of 5,000, it will make the task of tracing the caller very difficult,” said a senior intelligence officer. The problem is compounded by the fact that most of cellular phone sets are sold by unregistered sellers, he added.

All latest news about Indian politics tamasha

The Union Home Ministry has in the past blocked the foray of a major Chinese telecom equipment supplier, Huawei, into the ports sector owing to security implications.

The National Technical Research Organisation suspects that the controversial Chinese equipment company is tracking the telephones and e-mail addresses of senior officials of the armed forces, top bureaucrats and industry captains.

Following the NTRO inputs, a joint intelligence committee meeting last year had labeled the company as a security threat, a senior Union Home Ministry official said.

Gurgaon-based Huawei officials confirmed that intelligence sleuths had been visiting the company's research and development centre in Bangalore and its order book from the public sector telecom majors had been shrinking due the development.

However, the company officials formally maintained that the company was a legal corporate and such “allegations” were unfounded.

Anyone have more News?

Edited December 18, 2008 by Honest

[KumaarShah 143]

^^^

If the above is true (No IMEI for Chinese mobiles) thn this is a very serious issue and the law makers should definitely ban these mobiles/phones. What are they waiting for?

[situ1962 21]

So far as i know IMEI is a must for each and every mobile handset manufactured by any company.if the chinese companies are selling handsets without giving a unique IMEI no to every phone then how were they allowed to be sold here in the first place?this should be stopped with immediate effect.

[@ksh@T 20]

well how can a mobile work without IMEI thats strange . . .if thats true the govt has woke up quite late . . ..

[@mitJ@in 256]

Why don't Indian Government take action against those Chinese Companies directly who are selling these handsets...

[raccoon 53]

I dont think its a case of the IMEI not being there on these handsets! Thre problem is that several handsets in a lot share the same IMEI number! And thats what makes it difficult to trace the specific handset.

[Honest 836]

^^^

This seems to be a really very serious issue my dear friends. Our government should take necessary steps to handle these kinds of security threats.

Regards.

[satish babu 0]

these handsets will have imei number but it is fake. you wont find them in international imei register. the first step to be taken by providers to stop this kinda handsets using. but they dont stop them as business is very important for them instead of national security.

[situ1962 21]

The govt should make it mandatory for all service providers to block all such handsets which don't have a genuine and unique imei number.that was those phones will become simple toys only or at best mp3 players.

[vikramgvk 0]

bakwaaas. my china phone has iemi no for sure.many china mobiles i have checked have iemi no

[Honest 836]

^^^

@Vikramgvk

My dear friend, we are not saying that Chinese handset doesn't have IMEI number. Instead the matter here is that Chinese Mobile Manufacturers are selling many handsets with the same IMEI number.

Regards.

[raccoon 53]

^^^

Also, its not like ALL Chinese mobiles have IMEIs that are not unique... but that some/many brands are indulging this practice!

[prakashkadam 1]

what is the future for phone already in use?

^^^

Also, its not like ALL Chinese mobiles have IMEIs that are not unique... but that some/many brands are indulging this practice!

[spknair 1]

Is those phones already banned?

[Honest 836]

^^^

@Santhosh

No, my dear friend, these handsets are still available in the market.

Regards.

[Sadikk 301]

Yes they are available in market.

[Honest 836]

Chinese mobiles: New terror weapon

25 Sep, 2008, 1715 hrs IST, Indiatimes

BANGALORE: The prices of the swanky looking mobile phone handsets loaded with the latest features are attractively low. But we could pay a high price for these China mobiles, as they are better known, are the new terror tools.

Following the series of bomb blasts across the country, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) zeroed in on these handsets and last month recommended to the Union home ministry and Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to ban them.

It's because these handsets, recovered from some terror suspects, did not have the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number and consequently gave no details of SIM cards used in it.

Apparently, terrorists have switched over to such handsets which can be discarded without any hassles and without fear of call transactions being traced.

How exactly does the IMEI number work? Every branded mobile phone comes with a standard 15-digit or 17-digit IMEI number. This number is registered with the GSM service provider once the handset becomes active when a SIM card is inserted. In case the handset is stolen, even if the SIM card is changed, the police can block the handset by using the IMEI number and even retrieve details from recovered handsets. Even CDMA mobile phones have an electronic serial number equivalent to the IMEI number.

Bangalore City Crime Branch (CCB) officials, who often raid outlets selling such handsets, say, "It is very difficult to extract details from such handsets. Though these 'Chinese mobiles' are supposed to have genuine IMEI numbers, they are either fake or several phones have the same IMEI number, making it impossible to find out any details."

[Sadikk 301]

They should close import gateway with immediate effect. and talk sh!ts laterz.

[Honest 836]

DoT calls for mobile handset authentication

Press Trust of India l 10 Oct l New Delhi

Department of Telecom has directed all service providers to ensure that mobile handsets are authenticated in their networks to enable security agencies to trace the devices.

DoT's direction comes after hoardes of unauthenticated cheap mobile handsets, most of them belonging to Chinese vendors, flooded the market, which do not have the mandatory IMEI or the International Mobile Equipment Identification number, which makes them untraceable in the event of a crisis. These handsets have either all zeros or no number at all as IMEI numbers, according to officials.

"This has posed national security," DoT said. DoT has asked the operators to set up Equipment Identity Register (EIR) that can be used for authentication and security purposes.

EIR is a databse that contains a list of all valid mobile equipment on the network where each mobile number is identified by its IMEI.

In the interest of security of the nation, all service providers are directed to make provision for EIR so that calls without IMEI with all zeros are not processed and rejected. They need to equip their network with EIR facility, DoT said.

DoT wants the task to be completed within 2 months.

[Mufaddal 678]

ha atlast some progress made by DoT on this issue..............good they woke up early this time

[Harshal 11]

DoT to bar calls from Chinese phones

14 Oct, 2008, 1105 hrs IST,Times News Network

If you bought a cheap Chinese mobile phone recently, the investment might turn out to be expensive.

Calls from such phones may be barred since most don't carry the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, a unique 14-digit code used to identify valid devices.

Even locally-assembled handsets that don't have IMEI numbers may be barred, according to a recent note by the department of telecom (DoT).

There are about 1.6 crore Chinese-made and locally-assembled handsets in use that don't have IMEI numbers. Even mobile phones that have all zeroes or no zero in their IMEI code will also be barred.

The DoT move comes after security agencies found the mobile phones used by terrorists in the recent blasts did not have IMEI numbers. Sales of Chinese handsets constitute about 13.3 per cent (or Rs 4,000 crore) of the Rs 30,000-crore annual mobile handset market in the country.

About 16.8 lakh Chinese and locally assembled handsets are sold every month.

However, the directive leaves a loophole as it does not take into account fake IMEI numbers with at least one zero.

Local dealers of Chinese handsets are exploiting this by offering to change the IMEI number if your phone has a code with all zeroes or no zero. Mobile phone makers said they are working to plug the loophole as a change in IMEI is not legal in India, unlike the UK and Poland.

Software to change IMEI numbers is freely available on websites like brothesoft.com. The government fears militants might use such software to switch the IMEI code of a mobile phone several times during a call, thus making the caller virtually untraceable.

Source: http://infotech.indiatimes.com/News/DoT_to...how/3593481.cms

[Honest 836]

DoT asks cellcos to cut off handsets without IMEI code

Economic Times l 19 Dec l Mumbai

Come January 6 and as many as 25 million mobile phones could be disconnected by the telecom operators. Concerned about the terrorist attacks in the recent past, the department of telecom (DoT) has asked service providers to disconnect handsets that do not have an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number.

IMEI is a unique 15 digit code that identifies a mobile. It prevents the use of stolen handsets for making calls and allows lawful interception to prove the use of a particular device.

The IMEI number appears on the operator’s network whenever a call is made. DoT has asked the service providers to equip networks with Equipment Identity Register (EIR) to check whether calls are made from genuine handsets.

“In the interest of national security, all cellular mobile service providers in unified acess service licences (UASL) are hereby directed to make provisions for EIR so that calls without IMEI or with IMEI consisting of all zeroes are not processed or rejected,” DoT said in a letter to operators on October 6.

“If switches do not have such a facility, the necessary hardware and software should be put in place within three months of the issue date of this letter and compliance reported,” it added.

Indian Cellular Association (ICA), the industry body for handset makers, believes that illegal IMEI handsets are being used as there is no validation of IMEI numbers in mobiles entering the country either through sea or air.

Moreover, there is no central mechanism to prohibit the use of stolen phones. The bulk of grey market phones, predominantly originating from China, do not have genuine IMEI numbers. ICA estimates around 25 million such handsets in the country.

However, some operators ET spoke to expressed their inability to meet the DoT deadline due to technical reasons. “What the DoT is trying to do is to block all calls with zeroes as IMEI numbers or from blacklisted numbers. That adds an extra load on networks. There are so many combinations of non-genuine IMEI numbers that it is extremely difficult to block them. Network upgradation is required to block all such calls and not all our multiple equipment vendors are equipped to do it,” a senior official told ET.

He further explained that interrogating all calls would delay call set-up time. “Switches will interrogate most of the time and may not be able to process any calls,” he added.

Another top official at a telecom firm said the move will affect customers who unknowingly bought mobiles without IMEI or whose numbers have been duplicated by others. “The duplicate devices currently being used will not last beyond two-three years. The way out is to check imports to stop entry of handsets without genuine IMEI into India,” he added.

[Honest 836]

<< Topic Title Updated >>

[Honest 836]

So my dear friends, its now confirmed that by 6 January onwards all Imported Mobile Handsets which do not have proper IMEI numbers will be BANNED in India.

Means your handset will be blocked by the operator itself and you will be unable to make and recieve calls.

So all of you, who had purchased Imported Handsets from the Grey Market, should have a check with your handset, whether it has proper IMEI number or not.

It is clearly mentioned in the news that 25 Million Mobile Phones could be disconnected due to improper or false IMEI numbering. Hope you are not one of those 25 Million.

Regards.

[Greatest 55]

^^^ does it mean, we CDMA users are also going to come under their net??