IMEI database opens today
The telecom regulator will launch the first database of International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of mobile phones today in a bid to curb illegal import.
Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar will inaugurate the database, established with support from Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association (BMPIA), at the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission office.
Customers intending to purchase a device can get the 15-digit IMEI by dialing *#06# from the handset. The legality can then be checked by sending an SMS with the IMEI to 16002.
The IMEI numbers of handsets imported in 2018 have already been provided to the BTRC by mobile importers.
That of new imports will be gradually added, said BTRC officials, adding that the database would also be used to automate the import process as all relevant procedures would be carried out digitally.
“For the first time the government is getting a database which will also help ensure that tax is earned from this sector and gradually illegal imports will decline,” said Mohammad Mesbah Uddin, joint secretary of the BMPIA.
The database will enable the government to know the types of handsets being used in the country and how many are 4G and 3G-enabled and basic phones, said Mesbah, also the chief marketing officer of Fair Group, which assembles Samsung devices.
Industry insiders said the database would also give the government the capacity to switch off handsets.
The government also plans to set up a National Equipment Identity Register, which will save individual IMEI numbers with their associated SIM and national identity card numbers.
About 3.35 crore handsets were legally imported in 2018 while one crore entered through different sources, including illegal imports.
