ABU DHABI: The General Authority for Telecommunications Regulatory body in the United Arab Emirates decided to cut off all services for replica mobile phones in December. The number of replica mobile phones in the UAE is around 70,000 devices. Majed al-Mosmar, the deputy general director in the telecommunications regulatory authority, said in a statement that “the authority granted the telecom operators in the state a deadline to notify its customers using replica mobile phones by this decision.” He continued, “we asked the operators to set a deadline to cut off service for these devices, and operators already approved and they are currently determining a deadline to cut off the service.” “There are no technical difficulties as the operators had the required techniques to cut off the service before the end of the year,” al-Mosmar added. The replica devices are not only illegal, but are often smuggled into the UAE carrying the names of popular brands. Also, the body said, these devices pose a threat to the health of their users as they are manufactured cheaply and not according to the international standards. The phone batteries are highly exposed and can lead to minor explosions. In addition to the short and long term legal, environmental and health damages it cause, the majority of the devices lack most of the approved safety features, guarantee certificates and have no maintenance service centers. This decision will not make imbalance in the market. The number of replica mobile phones is small in comparison to the total number of phones in the UAE. BM
