PTA blocks over 175,000 illegal IMEI devices

ISLAMABAD, Oct 03 (DNA): The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)
has blocked more than 175,000 illegal Internet Mobile Equipment Identity
(IMEI) devices since it introduced a mechanism to prevent the use of
stolen mobile phones under the Device Identification Registration &
Blocking System (DIRBS).

Besides, the authority identified and blocked around 26.03 million fake
and replica mobile devices from the use on local networks, a senior PTA
official said.

Moreover, he said as many as 880,780 cloned, duplicated IMEIs against
5.28 million MSISDNs (Mobile Station Integrated Services Digital
Networks) had been identified and blocked.

“The connectivity of smartphones on local networks has been increased
from 35% to 51% as of July 2021 after the implementation of DIRBS.”

Since the implementation of DIRBS, the official said, the import of
mobile devices via legal channels has increased by 62 per cent with
revenue of Rs 46.27 billion.

In 2020, he said around 38.14 million devices were imported with revenue
of Rs 54 billion and in 2021, so far 20.91 million devices have been
imported through legal channels.

To a question he said, the government has introduced Mobile
Manufacturing Policy in June 2020 to encourage local manufacturing.
Subsequently, the official said the PTA issued Mobile Device
Manufacturing (MDM) Regulations in 2021, a major milestone in the
journey towards “Digital Pakistan”.

As of July 2021, he said the PTA has issued MDM authorization to 26
companies, including both foreign and local companies with brands like
Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, Nokia, Alcatel, Techno, Infinix.

After seven months of the MDM authorization issuance, he said 12.48
million mobile devices have been manufactured locally, which includes
over 5 million 4G smartphones.

The official said one company has also exported 5,000 “Made in Pakistan”
smartphones to the United Arab Emirates.

“The establishment of 26 manufacturing plants has brought in an
investment of over US$ 126 million,” he said, adding that over 10,000
jobs have been created in a short span of seven months.

“The local manufacturing plants are going to be instrumental for
creating further job opportunities, enabling affordability for Pakistani
users, and the export of devices to global markets,” the official
remarked. DNA

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