Spurious mobile? No GSM service

UAE service providers will stop all GSM services for fake mobile phones from mid November in line with instructions from the communications authorities, the semi official Alittihad newspaper reported on Sunday.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has told the UAE’s two GSM service providers Etisalat and Du they must halt the service for all counterfeit mobile phones from November 13, it said.

The decision will affect all mobile phones which do not carry IMEI identification serial numbers or those which have fake IMEI numbers.

“TRA told Etisalat and Du to begin banning the service on fake mobile handsets from November 13 but gave them a grace period until December 10 to fully abide by the decision,” the paper said, citing TRA officials.

It said users of fake mobile phones would receive SMS from their service providers soon asking them to change their handsets or the services will be discontinued, adding that all call and messaging services would be stopped.

“TRA said the decision is intended to regulate the GSM market and protect users of fake mobile phones against legal and health hazards,” it said.

The paper did not elaborate on fake handsets but dealers said Chinese mobile phones would be most affected by the decision as most of them either carry fake IMEI identification or do not have that number.

“This could severely hit the market share of Chinese mobile phones in the UAE at a time when that share has sharply increased over the past three years,” said a mobile phone dealer in Abu Dhabi.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.