NEW DELHI/BANGALORE:  Millions of gray market handset users in India can now breathe easy.

The third directive issued by the Department of Telecom (DoT) asking the cellular operators to terminate services Chinese handsets with 15-digit International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), by April 13 has expired - like its predecessors !

The non-compliance of the directive on part of the cellular operators seems to be apparent: Which cellular operator would like to loose their subscriber share among estimated 25 million gray market handset or illegally manufactured Chinese handset users in India ?

The DOT is seeking a ban on the service to gray market handsets, as their 15-digit IMEI makes it difficult for operators to trace the caller by IMEI, unlike in the case of genuine handsets that come embedded with 16-digit IMEI that be tracked at the operators end.

The DOT had issued the directives to the cellular phone operators after Intelligence agencies and genuine mobile phone manufactures had raised the alarm over the threat posed by the gray market handsets.

Equipment Identity Register

The government has already issued directions to the  mobile operators for installing Equipment Identity Register (EIR) so that calls originating from handsets with fake or without any IMEI or International Mobile Equipment Identity numbers would not be processed.

The first deadline issued by DOT to the operators was  January, 2009, which was later extended till March and then April. Though the DoT has also warned of a imposing a  financial penalty which can be doubled every 15 days, the warnings seems to have gone in vain.
 
The communication ministry has also warned operators that they would not be allowed to add new subscribers from 15 April, 2009, if they fail to put systems in place that can ban calls on IMEI number-free handsets.
 
The 15 digit issue:

Whenever a user makes a call from the his handset the 16-digit IMEI on genuine handsets gets  reflected at the operator’s network thus enabling lawful interception of all calls and identification of the caller.

Mobile operators store the 16-digit IMEI in Equipment Identity Register (EIR) so that a stolen handset can be barred from usage. But in the case of handsets with 15-digit IMEI, they are unable to do so.

Challenges before operators:

The Director General of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) refused to make a statement on when the operators would be able to implement the DoT directive when CIOL contacted the association.

However, an official with COAI stated that the association has sought more time from the department as it has demonstrated a new software that will enable the even the handsets with 15-digit IMEI to be tracked.
The cellular operators have jointly developed a software, which when uploaded to non-IMEI handsets would provide these devices with a unique number.

The COAI contention has been that it needs more time to educate customers to go in for a software update. It has also been arguing that this is the best possible solution as most subscribers who use cheap Chinese handsets would not be able to afford a new phone.

Security agencies' objection:

The COAI has already demonstrated this software to security agencies. But, it is learnt that the IB has pointed out that the software allows users to modify and rewrite genuine IMEI numbers.

An Intelligence Bureau (IB) official was recently quoted stating that the the IB  was of the opinion that the software cannot be allowed to be implemented or sold in the present form as it would lead to defeating the basic purpose of tracking IMEIs.

Meanwhile, a number of operators including MTNL, Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel, BSNL and Tata Teleservices have already informed the DoT that they are in the process of installing the EIRs.