Ban of Cell Phones with Illegal IMEI Begins

A ban of cellular phones, laptops and tablets with illegal international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) was officially in effect on Saturday (18/4/2020).

KOMPAS/Lasti Kurnia

Communications and Information Minister Johnny G Plate (right) and Industry Ministry director general of metal industry for electronic device machinery (ILMATE) Haryanto attend a meeting on IMEI at the Communications and Information Ministry in Jakarta on Feb. 28. The government will start blocking illegal cellphones on April 18.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — A ban of cellular phones, laptops and tablets with illegal international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) was officially in effect on Saturday (18/04/2020). Afterwards, devices with illegal IMEI will have limited mobility in Indonesia’s cellular network.

Indonesian Cellular Telecommunications Association (ATSI) deputy chair Merza Fachys said on Sunday (19/4/2020) that the limitation was achievable with support from the Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR).

“Indonesian telecommunications operators are integrated with CEIR,” he said.

In Indonesia, CEIR exists in cloud computing and has a capacity of 1 billion triplets with IMEI data. The government plans to install CEIR on all hardware by August this year.

Countries other than Indonesia that implement the whitelist scheme are India, Australia, Egypt and Turkey.

Industry Ministry spokesperson Janu Suryanto said the government has chosen a whitelist scheme in blocking devices with illegal IMEI. Countries other than Indonesia that implement the whitelist scheme are India, Australia, Egypt and Turkey.

Under the scheme, devices active on April 18 are automatically verified by equipment identity registers (EIR) operated by telco operators and connected with CEIR.

“If the verification process found that the active device’s IMEI was unregistered, the operator will block it immediately,” Janu said.

According to him, IMEI validation will reduce the number of devices purchased on the black market and improve the growth of domestic industries. Growth trends in cell phone, handheld computer and tablet industries are deemed to have a positive impact on the national economy.

Data collected by the Industry Ministry shows that between 9 million and 10 million illegal cell phones are circulating in Indonesia each year. This can erode job availability and depreciate local factories and components up to 10 percent of direct production costs, or around Rp 2.25 trillion (US$145.98 million).

Furthermore, potential state losses from taxation due to illegal cell phone distribution is around Rp 2.81 trillion per year. “Those buying cell phones in the black market are also facing the risk of not enjoying official aftersales service if their phones are damaged. There is also no guarantee for product security,” Janu said in a press statement Kompas received on Sunday.

These devices will stay connected to cellular networks until they are disposed or damaged.

Communications and Information Ministry postal and informatics device and resources director general Ismail said that devices already in use and connected to cellular networks before April 18 would not be affected by the ban despite being unregistered in the IMEI database. These devices will stay connected to cellular networks until they are disposed or damaged.

Ismail said he urged consumers to buy mobile devices directly at stores to ensure that the devices had valid IMEI and can be activated using SIM cards before purchasing. For online purchases, sellers in electronic systems must provide guarantee until buyers receive the devices and are able to use them.

“The guarantee can be in the ability to refund or replace goods,” he said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation period, users of cellphones, handheld computers and tablets will gradually get text notifications of their devices’ IMEI status from their cellular service providers. The notifications will roll out in the span of two weeks.

IMEI is an international identification number produced by a type allocation code allocated by the Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA) to identify telecommunication devices and wares connected to cellular networks.

IMEI’s legality can be assured with the presence of warranty cards and manual books in Indonesian from the producers, as well as product registration, be they imported or production.