Azerbaijan, Baku, June 17 / Trend H.Valiyev /
Azerbaijan launched the development of the legal documents governing the project on the registration system of IMEI-codes of mobile phones, RCom CEO Seymur Mammadov told Trend.
The Azerbaijani company RCom performing the functions of the system integrator was selected as the company performing the work on technical building of the system.
Mammadov said the document is intended to regulate the rules of mobile operators, importers and private users. The final document will be submitted to the relevant governmental authorities to make additions and adjustments in accordance with the existing legislation of Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijan is already aware of the experiences of the IMEI-code registration system of Turkey and Ukraine. We do not want to implement the system as it has been implemented in Turkey, where a law passed in a short period, then the system was launched and only then people were informed. We want to make the transition to the registration system a clear to minimize the flood of questions that may arise after the launch of the system. The regulations that will reflect a clear explanation about the system, its limitations and advantages is developed for this end and importers, the public and operators have been clearly informed about what is at stake, and what are the rules in each case," Mammadov said.
As previously reported, the telephones, which were imported into the territory of Azerbaijan before April 2009, will be considered as legal without having to register them in the database. The devices imported after the deadline should be registered. Mammadov considers acceptable the shift of this period to January 2010following the adoption of rules.
It will be enough to send a short message for a certain number or check the Internet site, which is under development by the company RCom, to get information about whether the phone is registered in the IMEI-code database or not. The resource will be integrated with existing database, which will be received user requests. All regulatory documents also will be published through the site.
"If the phone is not registered, clear indications on how to register and find out why it was not registered will be given. We want to introduce the system without causing inconvenience to users. Experience shows that the most difficult is its launch, and everyone is aware of its importance after two three months," Mammadov added.
The project will deploy a large-scale campaign to raise awareness through the media, Internet, television and radio. It is planned to use the Internet resource, which would explain questions and established interactive transmission to subscribers to call and ask questions.
Regarding the readiness of mobile operators to deploy the IMEI-code registration system, Mammadov said the operators are technically ready to transition to the registration system and connecting them to the system does not present special difficulties.
"The introduction of the IMEI-code registration system will not require additional investment by the operators for the purchase of additional equipment, as it was in Turkey and Ukraine, where operators legally required to invest multimillion-dollar investment to work with this system. Purchase of additional middleware is required only in case if an operator decides to duplicate information in itself, " Mammadov said.
The Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers approved a project to create a single database of IMEI codes of cell phones in the country. The government has instructed a number of ministries to prepare a coordination plan, which will form the basis for the project. The legislative issues concerning the project were also resolved and the project will enter into the next phase of implementation soon.
Initially, the database will register GSM phones. Possibility of recording devices operating in the CDMA standard will be reviewed in the future.
The project provides the registration of all mobile phones imported into the territory of Azerbaijan. The database will be fulfilled intensively through IMEI codes of mobile hand-sets, which will be imported through Azerbaijan. Hardware and software that will turn off phones illegally imported to Azerbaijan will be connected to all phones when the legal framework on registration of the IMEI-code of mobile phones will come to power. After the formation of the database, it will be possible to have an idea about the state of the mobile phone market (market volume, number of legal and illegal products, etc.).
The project will include cellular communication operators and governmental agencies. The State Customs Committee will carry out control and registration of imported mobile phones. The communications and IT ministry will be project regulator.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at: [email protected]