Cell users without authorised handsets see services go dead

Millions of mobile subscribers owning handsets without unique identity numbers today saw services discontinued by operators after the government banned use of such phones for security reasons.

Leading operators Airtel, Vodafone and others confirmed that they have started disconnecting phones without unique identity numbers.

Vodafone Essar Director T V Ramachandran said, "We are disconnecting all those phones which are through the non-IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) handsets."No operator, however, put a number to how many users were disconnected from their respective networks, but sources said it would certainly run into a few millions

.According to estimates, 21 million handsets are in circulation without the 15-digit unique identity number, known as IMEI, which enables the security agencies to trace calls made from or received on such handsets.