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

[Mufaddal 678]

we are not goin to come under radar since we have a proper esn number registered to our detials...

this thing mostly goes for handsets which donot have proper identification ....specially certain chinese/indian manufacrured phones which lack imei

[Honest 836]

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

^^^

My dear friend, in GSM those handsets will be banned which doesn't have proper IMEI Code and in CDMA those handsets will be banned which doesn't have proper ESN number. That means Bad ESN handsets which are working on CDMA will be banned.

Regards.

[@mitJ@in 256]

I think CDMA Chinese phone will continue.

Govt has restrictions for GSM IMEI only.

They have not released any news for CDMA yet.

Edited December 19, 2008 by @mitJ@in

[Honest 836]

^^^

My dear Amit, actually its not only Chinese but also other Imported handsets which had bad ESN will be banned. As in Ruim enabled CDMA handsets too ESN been sent to the operator as it sends the IMEI code in case of GSM.

Regards.

[@mitJ@in 256]

@kamal

Banned means Network wont come to these sets on 6th jan?

or operator will give them warning?

And what is meaning of BAD ESN?

[Mufaddal 678]

That means Bad ESN handsets which are working on CDMA will be banned.

the bad esn handsets that v get from foreign countries make no difference ....as we r using valid esns here .....also the esns which have been declared bad here in india will b already under scanner ..

so this law is goin to target gsm handsets more than cdma .....this is simply coz gsm handsets w/0 imei r more abused than cdma phones

[Honest 836]

@kamal

Banned means Network wont come to these sets on 6th jan?

or operator will give them warning?

And what is meaning of BAD ESN?

Yes dear Amit, calls to the banned handsets will be blocked by the operator's side from 6th January onwards.

Although operators are saying that they have to upgrade their network and in all it can take atleast 3 months to upgrade the network.

So, it might be possible that this deadline could be shifted forward for another 2-3 months.

Regards.

[Honest 836]

so this law is goin to target gsm handsets more than cdma

My dear friend, CDMA also will definetely come under scanner. As Reliance has the largest subscriber base of CDMA mobile users.

How can our govt. spare it ?

[Honest 836]

And what is meaning of BAD ESN?

BAD ESN is network specific... A customer in collections and blocked by the network / a lost or stolen reported handsets gets a BAD ESN Tag.

[Mufaddal 678]

firstly all non ruim handsets have esn ....ruim handsets will have ruims which have uim id which gives esn ...

as far as bad esn goes it is altogether different than phones w/o imei

bad esn simply means that the esn is been blacklisted by the operator due to lost/steal/forfieture of contract...so that whoever has this handset cannot b activated again on the network ...

[Sadikk 301]

IMEI in GSM, is same as IMSI in CDMA. ESN is nothing but just Electronic Serial Number. which they register on their network to give excess.

MIN number along with Country code is called IMSI, and incase its temperedor not proper the network will block such handsets already.

But as far as imported handsets are mostly RUIM based and IMSI is feeded in RUIM not the handset.

Non RUIM CDMA handsets are also with proper IMSI, as in CDMA without proper IMSI handset wont get access as network verify ESN along with MIN and gives access.

So bottom line is CDMA HANDSETs have no problem with any of restriction made by government.

[prathod 3]

This thread brings a song to my mind from the movie Pyar to Hona hi Tha - Jo hona hai woh hona hai phir kis baat ka rona hai.... kis baat ka rona hai,jo hona hai woh hona hai

It will be banned or not banned use it till then.the day your handsets go network dead then hunt for a new handset,till then enjoy every moment with your handset

[Greatest 55]

@pankajbhai, true to your words..!! enjoy every moment until ban comes into place..

[Mufaddal 678]

Ban isn't cumin for us....so enjoy ur moguls and treos

[ravi_patent 28]

Where There Is A Will .....

atlast policymakers wokeup and threaten operators,which results in action

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/N...538,curpg-2.cms

25 million Chinese handsets likely to get new lease of life

Economic Times l 22 Dec l New Delhi

Over 25 million mobile phone users who have Chinese handsets without an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number won’t have to discard their phones. The industry has jointly developed a software which when uploaded to these handsets will provide the device with a unique number. This comes after a government directive asking all telcos to cut off mobile services to handsets that do not have an IMEI number by January 6, 2009. The government is likely to extend the deadline by another three months to March 31 even as some operators have sought time till July.

IMEI is a unique 15-digit code that comes with every mobile and helps uniquely identify the handset. This number is reflected in the operator’s network whenever a call is made or received from any handset and therefore allows lawful interception of all calls. Mobile operators store these numbers in Equipment Identity Register (EIR) - so if a handset is stolen, and its owner can provide the IMEI number to his operator to ensure that all calls from this device is barred.

In October, the DoT asked telcos to install EIR so that calls without IMEI or with IMEI consisting of all zeroes are not processed. This followed investigations by security agencies looking into the bomb blasts in several Indian cities this year which revealed that mobile phones used by terrorists did not bear valid IMEI numbers.

Industry bodies representing Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Association of Unified Service Providers of India (AUSPI) — will formally approach the DoT this week seeking an extension, the representatives in these told ET. The industry will inform the DoT that customers who use these cheap Chinese handsets without IMEI numbers will not be able to afford a new handset. The industry therefore wants time to educate these customers to go in for a software update to get an unique identity number for their handsets.

We need time to inform and educate the customer to have this software installed. This software is just being perfected and we will submit this solution to the DoT this week,” explained COAI’s director general TV Ramachandran. “These are genuine citizens who were ignorant about the IMEI number when they bought these handsets — we have to give them an alternative. Customers will have to pay a small fee, maybe about Rs 100, for the software, but this is better than throwing away the handset,” he added.

Telcos are also set to tell the DoT that since the EIR equipment has to be imported and also tested extensively before it can be installed on the networks, the process cannot be completed by January 6. “In some cases, the ordered equipment is yet to arrive, while in other cases, the equipment that has been obtained is being tested,” Mr Ramachandran added.

Besides, telcos have also demanded that the government ban the import of handsets without IMEI numbers. They have asked the finance ministry to direct the customs authorities to ban the shipment of such handsets into the country: “If these handsets are illegal and pose a security threat, how can the government allow these products into India. The operators are not to be blamed if these cheap handsets are available in the market,” said a senior executive with a telco.

Chinese handsets account for about 13.3%, or Rs 4,000 crore, of India’s total mobile market, which is about Rs 30,000 crore a year. Every month, about 16.8 lakh Chinese and locally-assembled handsets are sold in India. A GPRS-enabled Chinese handset costs about Rs 3,000, against at least Rs 5,000 for a similar branded phone. “While most Chinese imports have IMEI numbers, it is only a small percent of the devices from the country that are illegal,” explained another executive with a leading telecom company.

Edited December 22, 2008 by Honest
<< Topic Merged >>

[Harshal 11]

Government issues notices on illegal mobile handsets news 24 December 2008

Addressing security concerns, the centre has notified the customs department to only allow imports of mobile handsets after the declaration of the 'international mobile equipment identity' (IMEI) numbers of each handset.

Separately has the department of telecommunications has also directed all the cellular mobile service providers to make the provision of authentications on mobile handsets with IMEI number for GSM networks and the 'electronic serial number' (ESN) for CDMA networks.

Following the recent terrorist strikes in Mumbai, minister of state for communications and information technology Jyotiraditya Scindia told the Lok Sabha this week that henceforth all mobile handsets available in the country wouldhave to carry the IEMI number, which can be identified on the operator's network whenever a call is made from that particular handset.

Some media reports suggest that there are over 25 million handsets originating from China and many of them do not carry the mandatory IEMI numbers.

The IMEI is a unique 15-digit code that identifies individual mobiles and is used in identifying stolen handsets from making unauthorised calls by legally blocking that particular IEMI code.

In many countries an IEMI code is mandatory for all purchases of mobile handsets, but the Indian government has dithered over making it mandatory for only IMEI-coded handsets into the country, despite the spate of terrorist strikes. Security agencies say terorists have been using cheap throwaway Chinese-made handsets that do not have an IEMI number, making the call to the originator untraceable for law enforcement agencies.

DoT said in a letter to operators on 6 October, "In the interest of national security, all cellular mobile service providers in unified access 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."

"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.

The network operators have asked the government for time as they would have to make additional investments in their hardware as well as time to install software since the EIR equipment has to be imported.

They have also said that many genuine customers had to be enlightened that software costing a meagre Rs100 can be downloaded into the handset for an IEMI number to be added to the handset.

The Chinese make of handsets are popular with many people due to thei low cost as most of them are made in the factories near the Pearl Delta river where no R&D has gone into the making of these handsets as well as extremely low cost chips are used and are rolled out by the millions to be sold to third world countries.

Many official vendors in India like Nokia, Sony, Motorola and others have often asked the Indian government to regulate the Chinese imports of low-quality handsets in the past, that affect their own sales.

How does this impact us? The users if imported CDMA handsets?

[Honest 836]

How does this impact us? The users if imported CDMA handsets?

^^^

Can't say my dear friend. Let the time come and see what will happen.

Till then enjoy what you have at the fullest.

[nitink 279]

How does this impact us? The users if imported CDMA handsets?

thats y i deferred my purchase coz there is no clarity.

u end up spending > 15k on an imported phone and then u find that the usage is confined to a paper weight.

[Honest 836]

Anyone in India can steal a phone or buy a stolen one

Economic Times l 25 Dec

The ban on mobile phones that have no identification number, also called International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI number, is too little, too late. Even now, anyone in India can steal a phone, or buy and use a stolen mobile.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in a directive, has blocked phones that do not have an IMEI number. The 15-digit IMEI number is unique to every mobile handset, and even some satellite phones. You can usually see it by typing *#06# on most branded phones.

This would mean that 25 million users of cheap Chinese knock-offs - that don't have IMEI numbers - might get disconnected Jan 6, or March 31 if that gets extended. (If this directive had come two years ago, we wouldn't have to worry about millions of affected users.)

First, about 26/11. Maybe the terrorists did use Chinese phones. It makes little difference. The bigger issue was that they used legitimate SIM cards, bought with fake identity papers.

Second, some irony. While 25 million users of cheap Chinese handsets, most having bought them in good faith and without knowledge of IMEI numbers, will get disconnected, millions of cellphone thieves and their customers will continue with phones without fear of persecution by police or service provider.

The industry has developed software that can be uploaded to a phone, giving it a unique IMEI number, if it doesn't already have one. The software is being tested.

But at some point, perhaps March 31, the IMEI-less users would have to be blocked. Still, they would have got advance warning, and time to act. Telcos can SMS them reminders: it's easy to pick out the ones without IMEI numbers from caller data records.

A second idea: Let the government use this opportunity to come up with a citizen ID. Use Rs.300 crore (Rs.3 billion) from the money collected for the Universal Service Obligation fund from all telcos for this.

The problem is the very few organisations that can drive such citizen projects, like the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), do not have the time. So government agencies like the Election Commission, the ITO and food and civil supplies will continue with a dozen different citizen identities, wasting billions.

But the IMEI-less phone is not the only or even the main issue. As long as regular branded phones (with IMEI numbers) get stolen and re-used without trouble, terrorists can buy them much cheaper than the IMEI-free clone phones.

Because service providers are so reluctant to go after a thief, or a customer who bought a stolen phone, it's really quite safe to steal a phone in India.

Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) members' track record in tracking IMEI is poor.

A Wikipedia entry says this of the IMEI number: "It's used by the GSM network to identify valid devices and therefore can be used to stop a stolen phone from accessing the network. The owner whose phone is stolen can call his network provider and instruct it to block the phone using its IMEI number."

That is, if you lose your phone, you could call your network provider and it could block that IMEI number so it cannot be used with any other SIM card, or flag it as "hot".

'Could' is the operative word. Actually, the provider won't. Its stance is: "We do not want to harass a customer who has bought a second-hand phone in good faith". Even if that phone is stolen.

Can you imagine that applying to cars? You buy a stolen car, and the authorities say, oh, poor fellow, let him keep it, he bought it in good faith?

Now, telcos might say the phone could be used on any other network, but in this day of roaming interconnect and settlement, tackling that is no big deal. A credit card company does not tell you that a lost card will be blocked only if the thief uses it on 'their network'.

Oh, and an Airtel or a Vodafone will not block a stolen phone even on their own network, unless they're pressured by the police.

If you thought things would be easier with CDMA (code division multiple access) providers, where there are no SIM cards to change, it's actually worse. Tata Indicom refused to block a very poor painter's phone which was stolen; he finally had to change the number he had got printed on his card. He went through a police report, but no luck. We tried to help him, but couldn't budge Tata Indicom.

This, then, is the bigger danger, but the one that is easier to tackle.

The good news is that the police have begun to act on FIRs (first information reports) filed on stolen handsets. We know of a case in Delhi where a handset was recovered in a few days through the IMEI number. The bad news is that less than one in 10 phone thefts gets even reported, let alone an FIR registered.

So if directed by the police to track a stolen handset, the telcos can do it.

On March 31, 2009, they should block not only the IMEI-free handsets but also stolen handsets, after reporting theft (when a handset reported stolen turns up with another SIM card number, they can report that, before blocking it.)

And the COAI should create a database for stolen handsets that would get blocked, at least in India.

Self-regulation? I must be dreaming. So I hope the DoT issues the diktat to block stolen handsets along with IMEI-free handsets. This will put the squeeze on the grey market, on thieves, and, in a small way, on terror.

And the next time you lose a phone, take the trouble to report it to the police. You might just get it back, and deprive the grey market. Or a terrorist.

[Harshal 11]

Ye I too was reading this in DNA today. I am highly doubtful that the celcos will switch off their paying (them not necessarily for the handsets ) customers.

It is a shame that the celcos for their small self interest are willing to bend the rules and not ban the stolen handsets. I would think it would be very easy to maintain and share a common (across celcos) list of stolen IMEI and ban them across all networks.

Edited December 26, 2008 by Harshal

[HetalDP 947]

Everything is misguided even we dont know IMEI of Handset Operator can always Track IMSI Number of SIM Card

Infact IMSI is only used to Track, Bill, and Secure the Handsets nothing else. and SIM 2.0 Specification is very Secured in USIM (SIM 2.0) even clonning SIM is toughest task as the IMSI and SIM Card data is signed by Operators which is most Difficult to Clone that SIM.

I think Government or Bigger Mobile Player is forcing on small Manufacture out of Market, no Doubt they should follow the International Practice to Manuafacture Unique IMEI based Handsets. and even taking IMEI range registering it and Manufacturing IMEI based handset is no Big Task.

[Honest 836]

It is a shame that the celcos for their small self interest are willing to bend the rules and not ban the stolen handsets. I would think it would be very easy to maintain and share a common (across celcos) list of stolen IMEI and ban them across all networks.

All these big operators are SHAMELESS my dear Harshal.

[ssr 10]

our Mogul is safe r8?