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Work item:
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Q.5057 (ex Q.GIR)
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Subject/title:
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Technical requirement for a global international mobile equipment identity registry
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Status:
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Determined on 2026-03-11 [Issued from previous study period]
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Approval process:
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TAP
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Type of work item:
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Recommendation
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Version:
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New
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Equivalent number:
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-
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Timing:
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2027-Q1 (Medium priority)
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Liaison:
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ITU-T SG2, SG17, ITU-D SG 2 (Q4/2)
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Supporting members:
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C-DOT, India, Ghana, Nigeria, Indonesia, Bhutan, Senegal, Burundi, Benin, South Africa, Central Africa Republic.
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Summary:
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The growing usage of information and communications technology (ICT) equipment in people's daily lives has also brought several unwelcome side-effects related to the increase in the sale, circulation and use of counterfeit ICT devices in the market.
As described in Recommendation [ITU-T Q.5050] on a framework for solutions to combat counterfeit ICT devices), this has resulted in adverse consequences for multiple stakeholders such as users, network operators, genuine device manufacturers, traders and governments, which include decreased security protection and quality of service for users and revenue losses for a range of stakeholders.
Clause 10.1 of [ITU-T Q.5050] refers to the prohibition of “the use of invalid and non-genuine device identifiers”.
As the issue of international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) re-programming is still a major concern in combating counterfeiting ICT devices, clause 9.3 of [ITU-T Q.5050] on reliable unique identifiers indicates that genuine ICT devices are required to have unique and persistent identifiers that "are secure, in the sense that they cannot be changed by unauthorized entities, are unique to each equipment and have been assigned by the authorized assigner". This implies that in order to reduce IMEI reprogramming, it is required to identify that an IMEI has been reprogrammed.
When an IMEI has been reprogrammed, it will be either random, i.e., an invalid IMEI, a non-genuine IMEI, a duplicate/already used IMEI or an IMEI which is valid but not manufactured by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). An invalid format or non-allocated TAC based IMEIs could be detected using the mobile network operator (MNO) equipment identity register (EIR) to compare with the standard IMEI format defined by 3GPP and matching with type allocation code (TAC) information allocated by the GSM Association (GSMA). Even IMEIs that have been used can be checked by means of the central equipment identity register (CEIR).
However, finding out if an IMEI has not been manufactured by the OEM can only be done through the IMEI registry. The IMEI registry may either contain the list of IMEIs that have been manufactured by the mobile manufacturers and issued for sale in the market or it will verify if the IMEI has actually been manufactured or not by the respective manufacturers through a real time query to the OEM/ODM concerned. Some countries may already have implemented a national IMEI registry, but the issue persists for mobile devices that are imported from other countries or that enter through unauthorized channels. Also, clause 10.2 of [ITU-T Q.5050] also refers to the certification of ICT devices to assist all stakeholders to enable the verification of the authenticity of the products.
Clause 7.5 of Recommendation [ITU-T Q.5052] calls for duplicate IMEI detection across countries. However, this relates to IMEIs that are already in use by subscribers. It does not include IMEIs that have been manufactured but not used in the network.
WTSA Resolution 96 [b-WTSA Res. 96] resolves that ITU-T should "consider solutions to be used to differentiate between authentic/genuine and counterfeit or tampered telecommunication/ICT devices, e.g. establishing a centralized national reference database of authorized equipment".
WTSA Resolution 97 [b-WTSA-Res. 97] resolves that "ITU-T should, in collaboration with the relevant standards organizations, develop solutions to address the problem of duplication of unique identifiers".
In the above context, a global IMEI registry will assist in resolving the issues faced by Member States and consumers such as IMEI cloning and duplication due to IMEI re-programming including the use of IMEIs which have not been manufactured for the allocated TAC. Participating countries or device manufacturers themselves may share the IMEI range produced in their country to help all other countries identify counterfeit mobile devices.
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Comment:
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-
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Reference(s):
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Historic references:
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Contact(s):
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First registration in the WP:
2023-10-26 16:41:50
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Last update:
2026-07-24 11:49:58
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