Over 1.7 Million Mobile IDs Blocked

Dar es Salaam — A total of 1,713,337 invalid mobile phone identity numbers (IMEIs) were switched off on June 16 by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

TCRA acting Director General James Kilaba told reporters yesterday that 117,389 of the IMEIs were duplicate.

Preliminary estimates indicated that at least 600,000 mobile phone handsets were fake, but yesterday TCRA officials said it was difficult to determine how many handsets were switched off because one mobile phone could have up to four IMEIs.

"It is not that 1.7 million handsets have been switched off. It is IMEIs that have been switched off. One mobile phone handset can have up to four IMEIs," Mr Innocent Mungy, TCRA's Head of Corporate Communications, told The Citizen when clarifying the issue.

Mr Kilaba said invalid IMEIs were 2.96 per cent of all IMEIs in the country, while duplicate IMEIs were 0.09 per cent of all identification numbers. Genuine IMEIs were 96.95 per cent.

He warned those who duplicate IMEIs to stop doing that because they risked a fine of Sh10 million or 30 years in jail, or both in accordance with the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (Epoca).

Meanwhile, TCRA fined various communication companies a total of Sh651.5 million for violating licensing regulations on SIM card registration.