The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has acquired a system called Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) which will allow the authority to block stolen and smuggled mobile phones.
The announcement regarding the formal launch of DIRBS has been made alongside the felicitations as the organisation celebrates crossing a milestone of 50 million broadband subscribers.
The acquisition of DIRBS is likely to “improve the telecom sector” as it will help improve collection of tax and track down “illegal devices” in cooperation with law enforcement agencies, said PTA Chairman Muhammad Naveed.
In its first phase of launch, DIRBS is expected to eliminate mobile phone theft and smuggling. An authority’s official said that in the first phase those devices will be blocked which are reported stolen or lost, while in the second phase devices that are in people’s use will be inspected.
Once the DIRBS system gets activated by PTA and the database starts adding stolen, smuggled and counterfeit devices IMEI’s, this would render the devices useless and would be unable to connect to local mobile networks.
In addition to this, subscribers will also be able to inquire about the status of their devices through DIRBS.
