www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 25 million Chinese-made mobile phones were banned by Indian authorities on Tuesday due to the lack of International Mobile Equipment Identification or IMEI number.
Telecom ministry officials said that low quality Chinese phones don’t have this 15 digit number needed to trace calls after a government crackdown on the handsets. Subsequently, they have asked all the service providers to block services to 25 million cell phones as it poses security threats.
The IMEI number helps in the identification of the calls received and made on a phone. It also provides information on the manufacturer and the handset type. Generally, when the phones are first activated, they automatically register this number with service providers.
The ministry has given two week deadline to all the customers with such phones to switch to a valid handset. They can manually register their phone with their service provider and buy an IMEI for INR199 ($4).
COAI or the Cellular Operators Association of India said it was adhering to the telecom ministry orders but at the same time they wanted the deadline to be extended. However, their request has been declined and they are sticking to the present deadline.