India will have 30 million less mobile subscribers, following the passing of the March 31 deadline for telecom operators to disconnect mobile services to handsets with invalid equipment numbers. That is almost 10% of the total 277 million GSM users, say industry analysts.
Last October, the department of telecom (DoT) had set a December 31, 2008 deadline to stop services to handsets with spoofed international mobile equipment identification (IMEI) numbers or with no such numbers at all. An IMEI number flashes on the operator’s network when a call is made.
The deadline was later brought forward to March 31, and there is little chance of another reprieve.
“We do not see any reason to postpone it (the deadline) further as it is a national security issue,? said Pankaj Mohindroo, president, Indian Cellular Association.
Phones, which have no IMEI numbers, are usually low-cost, unbranded and made in China. They are used by low-end subscribers. The disconnection of services to such phones will bring down the average revenue per user (ARPU), which is around Rs 200-250, for telecom companies. Taking these subscribers back on the network by providing them with new subsidised or free handsets will incur additional costs for companies.
?The low-end subscriber base should be educated properly about the importance of having a branded phone with a valid IMEI number,? mentioned Girish Trivedi, deputy director, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan (South Asia and Middle East).
?Since this is a stringent rule, operators will see a time-lag in revenue accrual,? said Romal Shetty, KPMG.
Mobile service providers will need strong monitoring workforce to block invalid IMEI numbers at the circle level. ?The government must also impose proper monitoring policies to check if operators comply with it. Also, such devices should be restricted at the import point itself,? suggested Anshul Gupta, an analyst at Gartner.
Escaping rigour
• Each handset an a unique IMEI number
• This number flashes on the operator’s network when a call is made
• Unbranded, low-cost phones, usually made in China, have no IMEI number