- Is it possible to have a BlackBerry Bold with an IMEI that starts with something other than 35 or 01?
A friend of mine showed me his phone, and ironically the IMEI was another number. My immediate response was, WTF? are you kidding? So, I looked at it and sure enough it was true.
Personally, I think the phone is bootleg. But it came from a national carrier so it can't be ... right?
We called his carrier, got some tech guy on the phone who had been working there for about 3 years, and sure enough, he confirmed that it's the only time he has every heard of an IMEI that didn't start with either a 35 or 01.
Any thoughts?09-25-09 12:54 PMLike 0 -
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- Thank you, but the sim card isn't the issue. The sim card starts with a very common 8901... What I'm referring to is the IMEI specific code, behind the battery. It's supposed to be 35 or 01, but it's 980041.... we called the carrier, to get the electronic read by punching in a specific code and it said the same thing. So, they asked if they could catalog it. What do you think we should do?09-25-09 07:35 PMLike 0
- Thank you, but the sim card isn't the issue. The sim card starts with a very common 8901... What I'm referring to is the IMEI specific code, behind the battery. It's supposed to be 35 or 01, but it's 980041.... we called the carrier, to get the electronic read by punching in a specific code and it said the same thing. So, they asked if they could catalog it. What do you think we should do?
Also, why are you assuming 35 or 01 only? You are saying the phone either came from the UK or the USA but there are more options than that available.09-25-09 08:35 PMLike 0 - Entire IMEI: 980041000351492
Made in Hungary
I originally purchased the phone at an AT&T store in USA, then exchanged it in USA due to a malfunctioning speaker phone, then exchanged it again in USA because every time I was on the phone, if an SMS or MMS came through, the call would get dropped.
Let me know what you come up with...
Thank you!!!09-25-09 08:46 PMLike 0 - 98-004100-035149-2
98 - ?? Not a valid code to my knowledge. Does not exist anywhere.
004100 - Cannot locate this. But there is no comprehensive database anywhere.
035149 - Manufacturer specific, could be anything.
2 - Checksum, valid.
What model is this phone? In recent ones the 4100 should read 4103 at least indicating some kind of encryption from what I understand.09-25-09 09:00 PMLike 0 - What would you suggest I do with it? AT&T says the same thing you're saying. That I'm wrong. So, they asked me to punch in some *# code to certify the number and it's internally configured with the same IMEI. The support guy was puzzled and said he's never seen or heard anything like it.10-01-09 02:42 PMLike 0
- Technically it is possible to change an IMEI, but it's not easy and really should never be done. There's only two reasons I can think of for this one being invalid:
1) It's not an official BB, just a clone that someone made.
2) It is an official BB but it is stolen property and someone changed the IMEI to hide that fact.
At the end of the day I think you're stuck with it. If it works on the network then have fun, otherwise you've got to replace it.10-01-09 03:13 PMLike 0 - 98-004100-035149-2
98 - ?? Not a valid code to my knowledge. Does not exist anywhere.
004100 - Cannot locate this. But there is no comprehensive database anywhere.
035149 - Manufacturer specific, could be anything.
2 - Checksum, valid.
What model is this phone? In recent ones the 4100 should read 4103 at least indicating some kind of encryption from what I understand.
Any ideas on that?10-01-09 03:32 PMLike 0 - IMEI numbers starting with 98 have been coming into my store lately. Alot of the new Bolds now start with 98 and also the new Netbooks and 3G data cards, too. 98's are There's no conspiracy, lol.10-01-09 04:06 PMLike 0
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If the phone is already unlocked then there is really nothing the IMEI will tell us in this case.10-01-09 04:08 PMLike 0 - 10-01-09 04:12 PMLike 0
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- Ok, this stuff is confusing. I am reading the GSM associations guidelines for IMEI allocation and it seems 98 is a wild card of sorts, and not the only one.
"Identifies the Allocating Body in a country, using the MNC. A Reporting Body should use "00". If “00” is already used by an operator or another Reporting Body then “99” shall be used. Where more than two Reporting Bodies exist then the numbers 98, 97 etc shall be used. The GSM Association in Dublin shall use "99" along with 353 as the country Identifier."
This is from a 2003 standard, and there are longer explanations of it elsewhere in the document. So basically the IMEI was allocated by someone in a place where there was more than one allocator as near as I can tell so they used 98 as it was the next unused allocation code.
[edit]
Here's the document if anyone is interested: http://www.gsmworld.com/documents/DG06_3v7-Draft.pdf10-01-09 04:25 PMLike 0 - Not sure what your question is, but I think they use the IMEI as a key for the unlock formula. The phone would use the same formula to validate if the correct unlock code was issued.
If the phone is already unlocked then there is really nothing the IMEI will tell us in this case.
Any idea on this formula?10-01-09 04:51 PMLike 0 - Okay, so 98 is the reporting body identifier. Is that industry specific or allocated to a particular carrier? I ask because on Page 15 it says: From 01/02/2005 a new format as described in table 7.1.3 will apply to test IMEIs for all countries except North America. The phone was manufactured in Hungary. Hence the question.
The only reason why we are so curious about this is because 9800410 was my phone number for 20 years growing up as a child. To see it on the back of my phone was cool, and interesting, and now I'm trying to figure out how it got there because no one seems to know why.10-01-09 06:11 PMLike 0 - The only reason why we are so curious about this is because 9800410 was my phone number for 20 years growing up as a child. To see it on the back of my phone was cool, and interesting, and now I'm trying to figure out how it got there because no one seems to know why.10-01-09 06:21 PMLike 0
- First off the number is a coincidence as it relates to you, no magic there.
Second, because this was produced in Hungary I take it to mean there are multiple agencies or bodies there who can assign the numbers so the one that made this just chose 98 as that's all they had available to them.10-01-09 06:42 PMLike 0 - i got a new blackberry storm 2, manufactured in october of 2009, the IMEI starts with 98 also, i checked the validity of the IMEI number to make sure its not stolen or something, on this site: International Numbering Plans, � 2001-2010 it shows up as valid, so no problems, and my phone is unlocked properly (i.e. not locked to anything), everything works fine, so 98 start is fine, and check your phone IMEI on that site04-09-10 10:29 AMLike 0
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