The authorities concerned are going to launch a drive to stop illegal handsets in the country from July 1, said the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in a statement on Wednesday.
Phones data that have not been recorded in the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) list will be deemed invalid and cannot be re-introduced, the BTRC said. However, BTRC will give time to those who already have illegal phone.
BTRC statement further said, "Currently, the number of mobile phone subscribers in the country is more than 160 million. There are allegations of importing about 1.5 crore mobile handsets from abroad every year to meet the demand of mobile phone customers as well as illegally importing handsets through tax evasion. NEIR will be introduced by BTRC from July 1 to maintain overall discipline in the use of mobile handsets.
Earlier, on February 18 last year, the BTRC called for tenders to launch and operate a system called NEIR to verify whether mobile phones are legal or illegal. The company signed an agreement with an IT company called Synesis last November to get the technical solution.
The IMEI (Mobile Phone Identification Number) of the phones launched on the mobile network will be matched with the database of mobile phones legally imported and manufactured in the country through NEIR system. Illegal, stolen and counterfeit mobile phones cannot be launched on the country's mobile network.
Although there are no official figures, there are currently around three crore illegal handsets in the hands of people in the country. The BTRC said it would take steps to prevent counterfeit mobile sets, illegal imports, theft, health risks and counterfeit handsets and ensure security to prevent revenue loss. According to the draft guidelines, operators will create this database with EMI numbers of all mobile handsets in accordance with their licensing policies.
An EMI number is a unique 15-digit number that resides on a valid mobile phone. Pressing * # 06 # on the keypad of a mobile phone, this special identification number of that mobile phone floats on the screen. Once the operators create the EIR, it will be linked to the National EIR (NEIR). As a result, BTRC will be able to easily monitor the EIR of all operators. EIR and NEIR will be real time synchronization i.e. as soon as the data is connected to EIR it will be transferred to NEIR.
The method of verifying the validity of the mobile phone is to go to the message option of the mobile phone and enter the KYD space 15 digit IMEI number and send to 16002. The IMEI of the respective handset can be immediately known from the printed sticker on the packet of the mobile phone or by dialing * # 06 #.
