Jailbreaking iPhone (iOS) does not alter the IMEI Number

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Today  is the D day when Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) is meant to switch off fake phones in Kenya..My view as I have stated before is, this a misguided move and make you wonder on whose behalf CCK is working for.The multinationals or the innocent people of Kenya?

Anyway questions have been asked whether  jailbroken iPhones could be among those considered fake. This came  after the alleged comment by Nzioka Waita  Safaricom Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs.

Nzioka was quoted by CIO to have said   that some genuine handsets including iPhones would also get the cut in situations where the users had software-unlocked them:

Some of the unlocking methods involve changing the IMEI to one that isn’t on the blacklist, thus making them also qualify as counterfeit. “Any device that has an illegally manipulated equipment identity will be impacted, “ he said.

IMEI or International Mobile Equipment Identity is unique for each device and can only be changed when someone change the motherboard.  What I know is that  the current unlocking and jailbreaking methods do not alter IMEI number of the phone.

The iOS jailbreaking is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices running the iOS operating system through the use of hardware/software exploits. Jailbreaking allows iOS users to gain root access to the operating system, allowing them to download additional applications, extensions, and themes that are unavailable through the official Apple App Store.

Unlike rooting an Android device, jailbreaking is necessary if the user intends to run software not authorized by Apple. I am not sure of what law states about Jailbreaking iPhones in Kenya but it is legal in the United States.

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TECHNOLOGY

Comments

  • Yes, what exactly are “fake phones”? As long as they work, what is fake about them? Will we also see those computers being removed from the network that use fake MAC addresses?

    jke September 30, 2012 18:52
  • CCK can’t give you a good definition of fake. They talk of phones with IMEI numbers which are not in the Gsm database. It is a totally confused process

    kachwanya October 1, 2012 10:57
  • Ah, now I get it. They are referring to phones which all use the same IMEI or whose IMEIs haven’t been issued yet. Wonder what happens if they just use the IMEI of e.g. a broken mobile phone.

    I wonder why they do this (of course because of national security and controllability) while at the same time the networks are based on a lousy encryption (afaik it is based on A5/2).

    jke October 1, 2012 11:42
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