TEHRAN: In recent months, the number of cellphones entering Iran through legal channels has more than doubled.
There has been a 160% year-on-year increase in the number of handsets entering the country during March-December 2017, an official at Iran’s Headquarters for Combating the Smuggling of Commodities and Foreign Exchange was quoted as saying by IRIB News.
Hamid Reza Dehqaninia added that the introduction of the Registry Scheme is responsible for the sudden increase in imports, as it disconnects contraband phones from the local mobile operators’ network and therefore renders smugglers powerless.
Aimed at curbing cellphone smuggling, the Telecoms Ministry, Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, the Communications Regulatory Authority and the Industries Ministry introduced the Mobile Registry Scheme that bars local operators from offering services to contraband phones.
