The government has rejected a demand by service providers to extend the deadline for disconnecting services on mobile phones without an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number.

The government has rejected a demand by service providers to extend the deadline for disconnecting services on mobile phones without an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number. Although no official figure is available for handsets without IMEI numbers or with fake IMEI numbers, industry representatives indicate at least 20 million disconnections on account of the guideline.