Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has launched the much awaited National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) system for identifying and blocking the unauthorized mobile handsets in the network.
Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Thursday inaugurated the system on trial basis for three months at a virtual function with BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder in the chair, said a press release.
Posts and Telecommunications Division Secretary Md Afzal Hossain, BTRC Spectrum Division Commissioner Engineer AKM Shahiduzzaman and Director General Brigadier General Md Shahidul Alam spoke at the function, among others.
According to the release, the NEIR would play an effective role in stopping use of illegal handsets and reducing crimes related to phone stealing. It will also help increasing revenue collection along with
expanding the domestic mobile phone industry.
Customers can verify the validity of their phones by dialling *16161#. Anyone buys new handset through any means (shopping malls, online shops, e-commerce) from July 1, 2021, s/he should check the legal status of a phone by typing “KYD<space>15 digit IMEI number” and sending the message to 16002 and preserve the receipt. A reply SMS will confirm the legitimacy of the handset.
The handsets procured from abroad can be verified and legalized by visiting the website neir.btrc.gov.bd and following it steps.
