India: cell users without authorised handsets see services go dead

By NNN-PTI,

New Delhi : Millions of mobile subscribers owning handsets without unique identity numbers today saw services discontinued by operators after the government banned use of such phones for security reasons.


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Leading operators Airtel, Vodafone and others confirmed that they have started disconnecting phones without unique identity numbers.

Vodafone Essar Director T V Ramachandran said, “We are disconnecting all those phones which are through the non-IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) handsets.”

No operator, however, put a number to how many users were disconnected from their respective networks, but sources said it would certainly run into a few millions.

According to estimates, 21 million handsets are in circulation without the 15-digit unique identity number, known as IMEI, which enables the security agencies to trace calls made from or received on such handsets.

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