In a major move to combat the issue of stolen and illegally modified mobile devices, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has successfully blocked 175,000 devices using the Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS).
The system, which was implemented to identify and block duplicate or cloned IMEI numbers, has also led to the cleaning of the local market of fake and substandard handsets, smuggled mobiles, and non-GSMA approved mobiles on the network.
According to official documents, DIRBS has identified and blocked 29.56 million IMEIs identified as duplicate, as well as 0.88 million cloned IMEIs being used against 5.28 million MSISDN numbers.
This has led to a newly established mobile ecosystem in Pakistan, with the emergence of local handset manufacturing industry, job creation, investments by global mobile manufacturers, increased government revenues, and 100% registration of handsets across all cellular networks of Pakistan.
To further strengthen this effort, PTA has issued the MDM Regulations 2021, which allow companies to obtain MDM authorization for a period of 10 years.
As many as 30 authorizations have been issued so far, with international brands such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Nokia, Oppo, Vivo, Techno, and Infinix, as well as local brands like VGO Tel and E-Tachi, among others, obtaining authorization.
This has resulted in the manufacturing of features and smartphones in 30 local plants in Pakistan, not just for local market consumption but also for export purposes.
In just nine months (January-September 2022), Pakistan manufactured a whopping 7.24 million smartphones, resulting in the creation of skilled jobs for over 26,000 people.
This has also led to a significant decline in the import volume of CBU phones in 2021 as most of the local demand is catered through locally manufactured products.
According to data spread over five months, CBU imports dropped further amid a major shift towards locally manufactured mobile phones.
In conclusion, PTA’s efforts to combat the issue of stolen and illegally modified mobile devices using DIRBS has led to a positive impact on the local mobile ecosystem in terms of job creation, increased government revenues and a shift towards locally manufactured mobile phones.
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