DHAKA: Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission says mobile handsets brought from abroad can be used in the country after registration.

At the same time, all handsets purchased or used before August 1 (Thursday) can be used, the regulatory body says, adding that after that date, the illegal handsets will be disconnected in the future. However, it is not yet final when the network will be disconnected.

In a recent notification issued by BTRC, buyers were advised to check the IMEI validity of the handsets through sending an SMS before buying in the internal market from August 1. The initiative was taken to stop the import of illegal handsets.

Many questions were raised on the issue - whether handsets brought from abroad or the unregistered ones will be disconnected from August 1?

When queried about the question of whether handsets brought from abroad or gifted handsets can be used in the country, the BTRC says all mobile handsets being used before August 1 will have the opportunity to register and use the National Equipment Identification Register (NEIR) system in the future. 

However, at a later time, handsets brought from overseas for personal use or as gifts, will be available and used in the prescribed manner, subject to the submission of required documents.

Information on all handsets imported or produced in the country is stored in BTRC's IMEI database in 2018 and onwards. Information on sets imported illegally or brought from abroad as gift is not stored.

BTRC will install NEIR system soon. If this system is installed, it will be possible to disconnect networks of all invalid mobile handset. All handsets that are not available in the IMEI database will be considered as duplicate from August 1. 

Once the NEIR is established, the registration process of all handsets before August 1 and onwards will be started then.  For this, the required documents of handsets purchased or collected from August 1 will be stored for registration.

BDST: 1950 HRS, AUG 4, 2019
RS/SMS