PTA Has Blocked 175,000 Stolen and Millions of Modded Mobiles Using DIRBS

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) blocked 175,000 devices against IMEI numbers reported stolen through Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS).

Official documents revealed that DIRBS identified and blocked 29.56 million IMEIs identified as duplicate. It also blocked 0.88 million cloned IMEIs identified as being used against 5.28 million MSISDN numbers.

Bringing benefits such as cleansing the local market of fake and substandard handsets, smuggled mobiles, and non-GSMA approved mobiles on the network, DIRBS has achieved seamless functioning. Its wider impact on the economy has manifested in the shape of a newly established mobile ecosystem, the emergence of the 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.

PTA issued the MDM Regulations 2021, which enable companies to obtain MDM authorization for a period of 10 years. As many as 30 authorizations have been issued so far. The list includes international brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, Nokia, Oppo, Vivo, Techno, and Infinix, and local brands like VGO Tel and E-Tachi, among others.

Today, 30 local plants in Pakistan are manufacturing feature and smartphones, 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.

For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the import volume of CBU phones in 2021 registered a decline as most of the local demand was 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.