Telco du to block services on fake mobile phones

UAE telco du said on Tuesday that it will start blocking services from all counterfeit mobile phones from Wednesday, following a directive from the UAE's regulator. du said in a statement that is will block all unauthorised international mobile equipment identities (IMEI) from December 21 to January 19 next year. The UAE's telecoms regulator last month called on the country's two operators to get tough on fake mobile phones, whose number is estimated at 70,000 in the Gulf state. du said on Tuesday: "We will commence blocking of all unauthorised IMEIs... This is in accordance with the directive from the Telecom regulatory Authority (TRA), to protect the UAE's consumers from the downfalls of using fake mobile handsets illegally in the UAE." It added that it had already alerted the impacted customers via SMS. du and rival Etisalat have been asked to identify counterfeit handsets and cut services to them by the end of 2011 and pass on their numbers to the regulator. UAE law prohibits the use, sale, purchase or distribution of fake mobile phones and those violating the law will be given notices and fines and in some cases their retail licences withdrawn, the TRA said. There are some 11 million mobile phones in use in the country, it added.