Get Ready, BM Smartphones Will Be Blocked On April 18th

Minister of Communication and Information Johnny G Plate (Tachta Citra Elfira / VOI)

JAKARTA - The government emphasizes the rules for eradicating illegal cell phones or black market (BM) in Indonesia. The Minister of Communication and Information Technology (Menkominfo), Johnny G Plate also believes that the International Mobile Equipment Indonesia (IMEI) regulation is ready to take effect on April 18.

Kominfo is also working with the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Industry to block the circulation of BM cell phones. In addition, Kominfo also discusses consumer protection and rights in the IMEI rules.

"Protection of consumer rights is our concern. Therefore we have discussed how the blacklist or whitelist mechanism is," said the Minister of Communication and Information, Johnny G Plate, at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Central Jakarta.

Currently checking the IMEI number is already in the SIBINa system which is managed by the Ministry of Industry. Meanwhile, Kominfo prepares a blacklist or whitelist mechanism to solve the problem of unregistered IMEIs.

"The mechanisms are different, but both aim to prevent illegal cell phones from entering," said Plate.

In sorting blacklist and whitelist blocks, Kominfo will also use a tool called Equipment Identity Registration (EIR), which is equipped with data in the form of MSISDN (mobile subscriber integrated services digital network number), IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) and user identities stored by operators. cellular. Both of these are used by the government to carry out verification before blocking.

EIR is used so that the government can detect users accurately to avoid duplicate IMEIs. This double IMEI occurs due to the phenomenon of zombie IMEI or cloning IMEI. This phenomenon causes one IMEI number to be active at the same time.

However, this method certainly has implications, so it is necessary to discuss consumer protection, given that some cellphone prices tend to be not cheap. "In the next two weeks it will be resolved. After that, we will decide whether to use a whitelist or a blacklist.

This regulation, which functions to combat illegal cellphones, which are sold at lower prices and are not subject to tax, was also made so that the Indonesian people would avoid failing products. With this regulation, people who buy cellphones from abroad, both online and offline, are required to register the IMEI of the cellphone purchased and pay taxes.