Mobile devices that have not been approved by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority will be blocked from using cellular services after October 20, unless their IMEI number is verified before then.
The use of smuggled handsets is quite common in developing countries like Pakistan, because of their lower price points. Since these devices are brought into the country without the knowledge of the government, authorities are unable to track them, verify their safety, or procure tax revenue. Now, the regulatory telecommunications authority in Pakistan has announced that it will block all unregistered handsets in the country after October 20.
In notices published by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) in local newspapers, it has been revealed that the Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) has been implemented to track down handsets that are not compliant to the PTA’s standards.
Citizens have been asked to verify the compliance of their handset by messaging the device’s IMEI number to 8484, or by using the online portal, which surprisingly uses the insecure HTTP protocol by default. Using these two methods will result in the following responses from the PTA:
Those who are versed in the Urdu language can check out the detailed official notice in a local newspaper below:
It is important to note that people who do not register their mobile handsets with the PTA will not be able to utilize cellular services such as messaging, calls, and mobile internet after October 20. This will essentially render such devices useless, apart from being able to connect to Wi-Fi internet. It is unclear if people affected by this will be able to appeal their handset’s compliance status after the aforementioned date.
