Kenya bans counterfeit mobiles being used

Kenya bans counterfeit mobiles being used

"Kenya is set to switch off all uncertified mobile phones in the country by the end of September in an effort to curb security threats and halt the illegal trade of counterfeit phones....." according to http://sabahionline.com/en_GB/articles/hoa/articles/features/2012/09/20/feature-01

The ban that is targetted towards mobile phones that do not have programmed an assigned IMEI could take huge resources to police. Confiscating handsets sold by traders is unlikely to achieve the intended results, which suggests the mobile network operators may be required to instruct handsets to transmit their IMEIs at registration or OACSU prior to calls/texts being sent or received. This effort being made by Kenya is probably welcome news to genuine brand-name manufacturers fed up with counterfeits eroding the marketplace.

Moreover, visitors using counterfeit mobile phones roaming on Kenya's mobile networks may well be caught up in the ban, too, due to the difficulty of using mobile phones, whilst attempting to make roaming calls, because the handsets may be uncertified. Most holiday-makers might not know to check to see if their handset is certified before travelling to the country.

It is assumed that the CCK have already planned beyond the stage of blocking handsets without IMEIs and detecting and blocking handsets programmed with cloned/false IMEIs in order to mask counterfeit devices.