Authorities at the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) said, they working on new rules to stop the spread of fake phones, and reduce devastating phone theft.
“One big plan is to create a Central Identification Registry (CIR), where every phone’s unique 15-digit IMEI number must be registered by importers, sellers and users. This number helps identify the phone make, model and if it was lost or stolen,” a release said.
Before a SIM card can be used, according to the release, service providers will check that the phone is registered.
“If a phone is stolen, it can be reported and blocked so no one else can use it. The CIR will also connect to a global database to help track stolen phones worldwide. This plan will help protect phone users and make the country phone system safer.”