INDONESIA will now benefit from last year's move when forcing manufacturers to start assembling smartphones in Indonesian factories using locally made components for the purpose of curbing black market handphones.
Subsequently, the authorities has issued a rule requiring all smartphones to be stamped with a unique 15-digit international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) registered to a government database by April next year.
Under the latest rule, local mobile operators will be able to deny service to all devices not registered with the government database, said the Jakarta Globe.
Further helping to execute it better, the authorities has set up a website that allow people to check whether their device has a registered IMEI or not.
To show how bad the situation is regarding the black market handphone, one government estimated that one in five smartphones in Indonesia is illegal.
Lax border control is allowing illegal – and cheaper – smartphones to continue to flood the country's black market, undermining the manufacturers' investment, thus the move to only use locally made components.
Communication and Information Technology Minister, Rudiantara, told Antara new agency that the regulation on IMEI will come into effect on April 18 next year.
"I thank the three ministries that have worked together to integrate their rules. All of us are looking to ensure the government does not lose any revenue from cellphone sales," Antara said quoting the minister.
Given the fact that Indonesia has more than 171 million mobile internet users, smartphone giants Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi and Oppo had a big reason to comply with Indonesian government's request since all of them want a slice of the huge market.
IMEI functions basically like a fingerprint for the phone as it gives it a unique, identifiable identity that separates it from the millions of other iPhones (or phones) in existence.
The knowyourmobile website adds, no one IMEI number is the same, hence the fingerprint analogy.
As to why one needs an IMEI number, the website explains: "One reason is that if your phone goes in for repair, the company will use its IMEI number to track it while it is being taken care of.
"This ensures it doesn’t get lost. Most IMEI numbers are 14-digits long, although there is a 16-digit version called IMEISV, which includes details on the device’s software."