2	0	2	Mobile, phones, without, IMEI, number, will, discontinued, from, March, 31,, 2009

After the Mumbai terrorist attacks, several security concerns were raised and blocking phones without IMEI numbers is one of the action items. Ironically the terrorists used satellite phones not the regular mobiles.

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has given a deadline of March 31 to all the mobile operators to disconnect phones not having IMEI number. IMEI - International Mobile Equipment Identity is the unique 15 digit number given to a mobile phone.

This number will pop-up in the service provider’s network whenever you make a call. It will also help track stolen phones. At least 25 million phones will go offline starting MAR 31 2009. That is 8% of the total mobile subscriber population. The phones without IMEI numbers cannot be  tracked and intercepted.

How to find?

Press *#06# to find the IMEI number. Once you press the # the number should pop-up. If it doesn’t then you might have a problem

Why would phones not have IMEI number?

Phones bought in grey market or phones imported from China through illegal channels will not have the IMEI number. The number is usually blank or gives you all zeroes.

I tried the sequence *#06# on 5 different phones and 4 gave me a IMEI number. The 5th phone is CDMA phone.

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