Unregistered mobile phones to become unusable after 20th PTA
ISLAMABAD; The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority PTA announced on Friday that the long-anticipated device identification registration and blocking system dribs would become unusable.
THE DIRBS is an indigenous solution aimed to combat the use of smuggled or counterfeit setts which either serve to reduce tax revenues for the state or pose health problems to unsuspecting consumers.
WE recommend that consumers buy only PTA-approved phone sets after OCT 20. A consumer should text the international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number printed on the box of a new handset only after he receives reply that the set is compliant with the regulatory standards,said PTA director general for services, Talib dogar
Device identification system aims to tackle the use of fake or smuggled sets which pose health hazards
the technology will help the authorities counter the issue of counterfeit devices that adversely affects the government, mobile phone operators, distributors, and consumers, according to Mr. Dogar.
These are the devices that are not registered with the Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA) and may be mass-produced, resulting in the proliferation of counterfeit, possibly hazardous, mobile phones.
PTA also said it had legalised the nearly 160 million compliant and non-complaint mobile devices, active on all the networks before the launch of DIRBS. ALL these devices would not be blocked Dirbs.
However a consumer, who inserts a sim card other than the one he was using before OCT 20 in a non-compliant mobile device after the amnesty period will be required to register the phone,s IMEI with PTA within two weeks to be able to continue using the handset, MR DOGAR SAID.
similarly, the consumers who purchase handsets abroad would have to register them in Pakistan by logging onto the PTA DIRBS website.AFTER the one-time registration, THE consumer would be able to operate the consumer would be able to operate the handset after furnishing information about identity card number, the IMEI of the handest and the country, name where the set was bought etc.
IN exceptional cases such users on roaming services, they will continue to use their phones without interruption. However, as soon as they insert a local sim they will have to register their mobile devices PTA MR DOGAR SAID.
Another senior officer,nouman Khalid, explained that in order to create public awareness PTA was sending SMS to all SUBSCRIBERS about the status of their mobile devices.
The four types of responses that can be received by a subscriber inquiring about the status of the IMEI include; compliant devices, which are the PTA -approved devices legally imported into Pakistan.
The other response is valid devices, Which are the ones having valid IMEI but which are not PTA-approved. To facilitate such users, PTA will auto-register the IMEI active on mobile networks before OCT 20 and their status will be compliant after the said date.
Mr. Khalid said that non-compliant devices are those where the IMEI is either not allocated by GSMSA or is duplicated.TO facilitate such users, PTA will auto-pair with specific SIM before OCT 20. After that date, such users will be able to use their devices with paired sims only.
Finally, the Blocked devices message indicates that the IMEI is Blocked as this IMEI has been reported stolen earlier.
MR Khalid said that after coming into effect the system could help the government increase revenues from $170 million to $200m on imported phone sets.
Published in; iTechFasterNews 14TH,2018
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