MDMS started today, but 8 million mobiles are still in the gray market

Nepal Telecommunication Authority has started Mobile Device Management System (MDMS) from today.

The authority said that this system has been implemented from today to control the unauthorized import of mobile phones entering Nepal illegally. But gray mobiles which are not registered in MDMS are dominant in the market.

According to the authority, 8 million mobiles are in the gray and black list, that is, these mobiles are not registered with the IMEI authority. Spokesperson of the authority Mishra says, ‘We will register the mobile phone we brought. But the importer himself also registers and sends the list. But it is estimated that IMEI of 8 million mobiles in the Nepali market is still not registered.

According to the authority, MDMS system is a high technology to control unauthorized entry of mobile phones into Nepal. The official decision of this was that the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, who is also the spokesperson of the government, Rekha Sharma, informed that the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, apart from the facilities that those going for foreign employment, will be allowed to bring one more i.e. two mobile phones and implement the MDMS system.

Achutanand Mishra, Assistant Spokesperson of the Telecommunication Authority, says, ‘We have implemented the MDMS system to some extent since two years ago. But after the government decided to fully implement it in the last cabinet meeting, the authority has been forced to implement it from today (May 1).’

Earlier, MDMS system was partially implemented in 078 July and 079 August also. It was said that the system will be fully implemented from January 15, 2007. But there was widespread opposition due to the provision of paying taxes and customs duties on mobile phones brought by Nepali workers who have returned from foreign employment. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal directed not to implement the system immediately after criticism at the public level.

With the implementation of this system, all mobile phones entering Nepal will have to be registered. If it is not registered, it will not work in Nepali.

According to the authority, the mobile phones before the implementation of this system will be automatically registered, while all the mobile phones coming in after 9 Monday 00 have to be registered.

The authority has informed that when purchasing a mobile phone, it should be checked only if it is registered in the system. For that, you can go to Shmk.Latab.Nayakh.Lau.

Mobile importers and sellers have also been instructed by the authority to sell only mobiles that have been approved and registered.

With the start of this system, the authority says that by tracking and blocking mobile sets, arrangements can be made to prevent such mobiles from operating in Nepal. It is believed that this will also help in reducing crime.

8 million mobiles still in the gray market

According to the authority, 8 million mobiles are in the gray and black list, that is, these mobiles are not registered with the IMEI authority. Mishra, spokesperson of the authority, says that the mobile phone brought by us will be registered. But the importer himself also registers and sends the list. But it is estimated that there are still 80 million mobile IMEI registered in the Nepali market

He said that the authority has categorized the mobile registration system into white, gray and black list. ‘White list means valid phones that can be used. Stolen, lost, illegal numbers are kept in the black list, he says, ‘In the gray list, IMEI numbers that have been complained about and are being investigated are classified as 9mobile0.’

According to him, so far only 27,000 mobile phones have been registered in the MDMS system on an individual basis, while the importer registers them separately and sends them. He says, ‘To date, 2.7 million white mobiles have been registered in the MDMS system based on the IMEI number registered in this system, based on individual and importers.’

What is MDMS?

In particular, the MDMS system, which manages and controls the import of mobile phones, helps distinguish formally registered and unregistered mobile phones. This system has been established with the argument that about 40 percent of mobile phones are being used illegally and this is harming the government, businessmen and consumers.

Achutanand Mishra, Assistant Spokesperson of Nepal Telecommunication Authority, says that this system will be helpful in making Nepal’s mobile market completely legal. He says, ‘MDMS is a system for keeping official data of phones connected to Nepal’s mobile service. As there is a system established to check the authenticity of the import of mobile phones, the main purpose of this system is to prevent mobile phones from entering Nepal by evading customs.’

Not all the phones that come to the Nepali market come through legitimate means. Legal importers of phones have already submitted the phone’s IMEI number, a 915-digit unique number that appears when dialing ‘Star Hash 06 Hash’ on a mobile phone, to the Telecom Authority before importing. Those numbers are in all records of the authority.

However, phones are also imported into the market through illegal channels. Phones have been sold by bringing Seemawari from the Indian market as well. The authority does not have a record of such stolen phone calls. For this reason, this system has been made to identify the phones coming from legal channels and to prevent phones coming from illegal channels from operating in Nepal.

According to this, phones without IMEI registration will be blacklisted and if they are not registered within the specified day, they will be ‘blocked’ and unable to provide mobile service.

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