Azernews.Az

The Azerbaijani government is tightening oversight of cellular phones. According to the new regulations approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, from now onward, all cellular devices used in the country, including mobile phones, will be registered.

The measure was taken to ensure the implementation of a comprehensive plan of activities aiming to prevent dissemination of false information about alleged terror threats.

Under the regulations, the communications ministry will be in charge of the registration process. The registration system will include a number of indicators pertaining to cell phones, including an international identification number called an IMEI code, the cell phone’s number, the SIM card’s serial number and the code of the mobile phone’s type.

Use of unregistered cell phones will not be possible, as cellular operators will not service such phones.

Under the new rules, people bringing cell phones to Azerbaijan both for their personal use and for sale must have them registered at the registration center.

Those who lose their phones or whose phones were stolen may approach the registration center to discontinue provision of the service to the phone user.

Experts say that an effective enforcement of the new rules could bring a number of benefits. According to the head of Azerbaijan Internet Forum, Osman Gunduz, due to similar regulations enforced in most European countries, instances of cell phone theft there are rare, as the rules make it impossible to use a stolen phone over the network.

Haji Hajiyev, an expert on information technologies, says application of the new rules is not only beneficial in terms of anti-terror combat but is also important for countering delivery to Azerbaijan of fake and substandard phones and those more harmful for users’ health.

But experts also believe that there are some downsides to the new rules. For instance, Osman Gunduz says there is no need for the registration of cell phone numbers, as it raises the issue of protecting users’ private information.

"According to international practices, private [cell phone] numbers are not subject to registration and only the device’s code is registered," Gunduz added.