CODE OF PROTECTION

New regulations for registering mobile telephones are being introduced in Azerbaijan. From now on the registration of the IMEI codes of all cellular telephones and smart phones, as well as tablet computers and 3G USB-modems imported into the country for trade and users will be compulsory. A pilot for the project is expected to be tested next month and the registration system should be up and running in the autumn.

Countering theft and forgery

Work on shaping the mobile phone IMEI-code registration system in Azerbaijan began about three years ago and was carried out by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and a number of local IT companies. However, this work only captured the public's interest at the end of last December when the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers endorsed new regulations for the registration of mobile devices and defined the tasks of the Mobile Devices Registration Centre (MDRC) which was being set up in the country. Since then the anticipated launching of the IMEI-code registration system has become the subject of the close attention of the local media and public. What is the purpose of the change in regulations for registering mobile devices and how will the MDRC system operate?

The idea of introducing IMEI-code registration systems has been debated for quite some time in many countries which have encountered the global problem of trade in pirate and stolen mobile devices. The first countries to set up a mechanism for registering IMEI codes were Britain, Ukraine and Turkey, and our country will soon be joining them. The US, India, Russia, the Baltic republics, and so on, are also looking into the possibility of developing such systems.

The bottom line of all such mechanisms, including the system developed in our country, is the automation of control and compulsory registration of all types of mobile devices used in GSM networks by mobile communications operators. The basic element of control is the IMEI codes - International Mobile Equipment Identity. A unique code for each article assigned to the manufacturer is stored in the programme of the apparatus (displayed on the screen by typing *?06? on the keyboard) [translator's note: instead of ? signs these should be hash key signs - not on my keyboard]. This row of digits is also duplicated on the storage battery, on the packaging and in the warranty certificate. The IMEI code represents the serial number of the device and is transmitted each time it is switched on and authorized and this means the device can be easily traced and blocked by the mobile communications operator, for example if it is stolen.

The advantage of this system is that identification of IMEI codes is in no way linked with the SIM-cards (a telephone number) of cell-phone companies which precludes the further use of stolen apparatus, even if the "SIM" of other operators is entered into it. The effectiveness of this system is shown, in particular, by the experience of Turkey, where there has been a more than 90% reduction in the theft of mobile phones. When the system starts operating in Azerbaijan, thefts of mobile phones will also become redundant because the police will have enough information to enable the operator to completely unlock the lost telephone from the services of the network within a few minutes. The IMEI codes of all stolen or lost telephones will subsequently be included in a "black list" and their further use or re-sale will be impossible.

This same mechanism can prevent the import into the country of pirate devices copying the production of well-known brands and stored in underground workshops in Indo-China and other South-East Asian countries. The practice which has spread in recent years of buying up second-hand brand-name telephones and then removing the electronics and replacing the worn-out frame and keyboard is also believed to be a variation of pirate production. Then devices that have been given a second life are assembled and packed and again marketed through the retail trade at the price of a new telephone. Finally, the system of identifying IMEI codes will prevent lesser-known manufacturers from gaining access to our market. As a rule, such telephones do not go through the procedures of international and national certification and sub-standard parts which constitute a threat to the health and safety of the user are used during the assembly process. This, first and foremost, concerns the telephones of Chinese "non-brand" manufacturers: such phones may contain built-in spy programmes, they do not comply with safety standards for radiation levels, and there are also frequent instances of their batteries overheating or even exploding. Finally, such excuses for telephones operate contrary to the standards of the frequency band, which clutters devices working on other frequencies.

Black, grey and white

A hardware-based programme mechanism - Equipment Identity Register - the so-to-speak engine room of the MDRC, which has been developed in Azerbaijan, can directly fulfil the function of the identification of IMEI codes. The task of this system is to identify mobile devices with a single data base register, and if any of these devices is not on the permitted list they will be automatically excluded from the network.

The monitoring and registration of mobile telephones imported into the country will be carried out both via the customs service and by the operator being directly linked to the network. The opportunity to voluntarily register an IMEI code when bringing a mobile telephone into the country is already being offered at Heydar Aliyev International Airport. The data base includes the codes of all mobile phones crossing the customs border whether or not they have been brought in wholesale or just singly.

About 2 million mobile phones imported into the republic in the last 2-2.5 years have now been registered on the IMEI-code data base. All these devices are active on the network. Soon new telephones which since the start of the year have been registered by cell-phone operators will be added to this list. Altogether about 10 million telephones, 70% of which to one degree or another may be described as devices in active use, will figure in the system at the initial stage. The codes of telephones which have been registered in the base will not be withdrawn. But when purchasing a telephone private citizens will have to verify their telephone IMEI with the information in the centralized register. To verify the IMEI codes access to the general data base will be carried out either by means of SMS messages to the short number of any mobile operator, or through the Internet where such information will be readily available.

However, the likelihood of subscribers who have purchased the mobile phones of well-known brands from official distributors being unlocked before the introduction of the new procedure is minimal, because all apparatus on the network during this period will automatically (without any additional statements from their owners) be included in the data base and deemed legal. The formation of the data base will help to analyze the figures of the size of the market in mobile phones, to determine the number of legal and private devices, and so on.

Incidentally, three lists of IMEI codes are planned to be introduced into Azerbaijan - "black", "grey" and "white", which will include all telephones and other GMS-devices imported since 2009 and now being supplied. The first category includes IMEI codes that are not permitted for use - stolen and pirated devices. The "white" list includes telephones legally acquired and imported into the country, but the "grey" is an interim list that includes the IMEI codes of mobile devices not included in the register and the manufacture of which is dubious. However, devices included in the "grey" category may after verification be included in the "white" list, and what's more the actual verification and registration procedure will be free of charge. It is quite possible that a separate localized "white" list will be created. This will include devices with changed IMEI codes or codes not determined by the International GSM Association, as well as the telephones of foreign visitors visiting our country on a temporary basis, and so on.

Foreigners coming into our country are given the status of guest mobile subscribers, and their telephones will serve as international roaming devices and will not be included in the central register.  However, other options will also be available: if visitors to our country are not satisfied with the roaming assessment, they can acquire an inexpensive device with a temporary SIM card.

In Azerbaijan, as in Turkey, the leading data base centre will be structurally subordinate to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and serve all three local communications operators. This is advantageous from the organizational and economic point of view, because the operators will not have to spend money separately on equipment and developing a programme for the system.

It is significant that a number of the countries of the former USSR have become interested in Azerbaijan's technical, organizational and legal experience in building a system of registering the IMEI codes of mobile telephones. In particular, the representatives of departments of communications and cell-phone operators of Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus and Russia are holding consultations with the Azerbaijani systems integrator company Simbrella, which carried out the technical construction of the country's EIR system.

At the present time cellular communications operators and the MCIT, where the central EIR system has been set up, are entering the finishing straight. A pilot launch of the registration system is expected shortly, and it should be up and running in the autumn.