According to the TRA, fake phones are especially prone to battery leaks or explosions, releasing highly corrosive or poisonous chemicals. The low quality assembly also means radiation levels go unchecked, the batteries tend to drain faster, and signal reception is usually much weaker.

Acting CEO Mr. Nasser Bin Obood Etisalat said “On our part, Etisalat will provide all the necessary information to enable effected users in detecting if their mobile devices are counterfeit and for them to replace it where required. For validation, Etisalat’s customers can send the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of their mobile phones to a specially created short code ‘8877’. Moreover, Etisalat’s customers using a counterfeit device with a fake IMEI number will receive an SMS message notifying them of the same. They will be requested to replace it with a genuine handset before the cut-off date.”

CEO du Mr. Osman Sultan “In national interest of those of our customers, we fully support the TRA directive to identity all fake IMEIs of our customers’ mobile handsets. We believe this will go a long way to protect the UAE’s consumers from pitfalls of using sub-standard and fake mobile handsets in the UAE”

Users of fake devices will be immediately contacted by their service providers and all phones that are not type approved will be disconnected from all telecom services, including calls, texts and internet.