“We
are going to be putting in place the technology to audit and to catch them and
to terminate those services that they are offering”
Minister of Science,
Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell at the opening of the McGregor
Gardens Community Cyber Vision Café in Kingston last Wednesday April 23rd
2014
Telecom
Provider Digicel and LIME are fearing the coming of WhatsApp
sometime at the end of June 2014, the Second Quarter of 2014 as predicted in my
blog article
entitled “WhatsApp
VoIP Calling in Second Quarter of 2014 - WhatsApp kills International Calling
at the Advent of Facetime-eqsue Premium Video VoIP Calling on smartphones”.
But
they have an even more serious long-standing problem that has been bothering
them for quite awhile: Illegal Bypass from Inbound International Calling from
USA and Canada using LIME and Digicel SIM Cards in unlocked
cellphones as stated in “Local
telecoms lose over $1b a year to international call bypass”, published
Sunday, April 06, 2014 BY SHAMILLE
SCOTT Business reporter, The
Jamaica Observer.
Their
revenue from International Calling as described in my Geezam blog article entitled “How
to set up an International Calling Plan for Digicel or LIME Prepaid and
Postpaid”, their main Cash-Cow, is set to drop or disappear altogether. Hence
they are joining forces to combat this scourge as reported in Digicel,
LIME join hands to combat bypass fraud, published Tuesday, June 10, 2014, The Jamaica Observer.
Telecom
Providers stand to gain from increased usage of their 3G/4G LTE (Long Term
Evolution) Network for VoIP and IM (Instant Messaging) as long ago predicted in
my blog article
entitled “CTIA
reports a 5% decline in US Texting as Instant Messaging ramps up - WhatsApp's
now Top Gun as The Dead Zone leads Star Trek Into the Darkness”.
But
if they don’t tackle this problem, they stand to lose a whole lot more.
USF and Telecoms Tax –
Telecom Providers Funding Community Access Points in Jamaica
It’s
so bad, it’s affecting their ability to pay the USF Levy as well as the
Telecoms Tax of 2012 as required under their BTA (Bilateral Trade Agreement) and
the Telecommunications Act of 2012 as stated in “Phone
companies, beware!”, published Monday, April 28, 2014, The Jamaica Observer to the UAFCL
(Universal Access Fund Company Limited), which apparently has been renamed the
USF (Universal Service Fund).
The
USF was set up back in 2005 to collect the following levy:
1.
US$0.03 per minute on inbound
international calls terminated on fixed lines
2.
US$0.02 per minute on calls terminated
on mobile lines in Jamaica
This
is separate and apart from the Telecoms Tax which came into effect on June 2012
as described in my blog article
entitled “GOJ
taxes Telecom Providers and OUR sets Cross Network and International Calling
Rate at JA$5.00 - Data Services Prometheus”.
Rather
the USF is closely tied to the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) CDF (Community
Developement Fund) and is use mainly to set up the Internet Cafes or Internet
Access, called CAP (Community Access Points) in the following facilities to
benefit the society:
1.
Secondary schools
2.
Libraries
3.
Post offices
4.
Community Access Points
It
is from this fund that the JA$800 million E-Learning Project II to give
students JA$5000 Tablets is coming from as stated in my blog article
entitled “Ministry
of Science and Technology signs four Contractors in March 2014 to procure
Tablets - Test Pilot Project in September 2014 means Teachers can monetize
e-books”.
These
Internet Cafes are actually a part of E-Learning Project I which sees Telecom
Provider LIME and Triple Play Provider
FLOW providing Internet access to some 300 schools islandwide as described in
my blog article
entitled “LIME,
FLOW and the $JA543-million Internet plan - Ebony and Ivory”.
So
folks, you can see that is a VERY serious matter that’s being buried by the
Traditional Media.
Hence
the reason I’ve chosen to write on this very topic, as it’s gonna come to a
boil quite soon when the new Telecom Regulator is set up as predicted in my blog article
entitled “OUR
to hire Consultant for LRIC Study on Landline - JA$1.49 per minute for Fixed
Line and Landline Flat Rate as MNP, LNP Approaches”.
International Calling
Bypass – US$1 Billion dollar of Revenue lost from the USF
So
how do people make International Calls from USA and Canada in such a way as to
be billed as a Local Calls? After all, if you’ve live in the USA of Canada,
you’d know that cellphones can only be purchased in one of two (2) ways:
1.
Unlocked and free for use on any Network
2.
Locked to a Network
Locked
to a Network here means it’s locked to a specific Telecom Provider. In the case
of the US of A, that would be one of the four major Carriers in the US of A,
namely:
1.
AT&T
2.
Verizon
3.
Sprint
4.
T-Mobile
For
the simplicity of this explanation, I’ll define Unlocked as being Factory
Unlocked i.e. completely unlocked to the point that you can place any SIM
(Subscriber Identification Module) Card from Any GSM (Global Systems Mobile) Network
into your phone.
Please
note Unlocked specifically refer to cell phones on a GSM Network i.e. AT&T
and T-Mobile. Verizon and Sprint are CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) Networks
and unlocking can only be done by the Telecom Provider, as they can only be
used on those types of Networks.
A
quick read of my blog
article entitled “How
to unlock any phone and put it on any Network - Guaranteed to unlock any
Feature or Smartphone on the Chennai Express” will fresh you memory on the
various means by which smartphones and Cellphones can be unlocked.
Telecom
Provider Digicel and Telecom
Provider LIME are working to stop this
problem, as some of the actors involved are local Telecom Companies here in
Jamaica with the Technical know-how to make it happen.
Illegal Inbound
International Calling – Unlocked GSM cellphones, illegal SIM IMSI and attocells
Thus
persons abroad making illegal International Calls from the USA of Canada, in
order to use Digicel or LIME SIM Cards in their smartphone, would
have to have unlocked GSM cellphones, be they smartphones or regular Feature
phones. This then implies that the Illegal Inbound International calls are
coming from Telecom Provider AT&T or Telecom Provider T-Mobile Network.
They would then place a SIM Card from Telecom Provider Digicel or Telecom Provider LIME to make Calls.
Now,
logically, as they are in the US of A of Canada, they’d have to have a Cell
Tower from either Telecom Provider Digicel
or Telecom Provider LIME in Jamaica in
order to make phone calls. This as SIM Cards from Telecom Provider will NOT
work on Telecom Provider AT&T or Telecom Provider Digicel.
Remember,
Telecom Providers, be they in Jamaica or in the US of A, are able to recognize
legitimate members of their Network based on their IMSI (International Mobile
Subscriber Identification) Number that coded into their SIM Cards as argued in my
blog article
entitled “How
smartphones are stolen and IMEI changed – Uninformed Jamaican Police Tracking
Jamaicans even as GOJ ID Registration by Telecom Providers needed”.
This
as evidence by the fact that Unlocked SIM Card are not allowed to work in the
US of A, Canada or on Telecom Networks here in Jamaica. This is only true for
the Netherlands, the only country in the world that allows for the use of
Carrier Unlocked SIM Card in any cellphone as stated in my blog article
entitled “The
Netherlands makes Carrier Unlocked SIM Cards Legal - Apple's Idea revived
heralding M2M and the Internet of Things, a financial Boon to Telecom Providers”.
Making Illegal
International Calls from USA and Canada – Femtocells and Attocells
So
clearly it suggests that when these persons make phone calls with their unlocked
cellphones using a LIME or Digicel SIM Card via a portable
Telecom Provider LIME or Telecom
Provider Digicel Cell Tower.
This
means it’s most likely a device called a Femtocell or Attocell. A Femtocell or
Attocell is a mini Base Station that mimics the settings of Telecom Provider Digicel or LIME as stated in my blog article
entitled “When
in Roam (ing) carry a attocell - SnapDragon and The Tourist”.
Do
a quick Google search for “Femtocell” “attocell” or “Mini Base Station” online
and you’ll turn up a whole set of companies that specialize in making these Portable
products that allows International US and Canadian Travellers to make phone
calls that are billed at a Local Rate.
Some
of them, on closer examination, sell Femtocell or Attocells as a software
package for Laptops or Desktop Computers. It then accesses your Wi-Fi Router
and uses the Antenna to put out a Cellular Signal with the right settings to
mimic the Telecom Provider.
Then
the calls are routed and terminated like a regular Local Call. Based on
confidential sources I’ve spoken to in person, it is actually done via the
Internet, technically making the Call VoIP, the difference being that the Calls
are routed to a Server owned by a Local Telecom Company or Telecom Equiptment
Contractor.
The
Server owned by that local company then terminates the Calls here in Jamaica
where they use Fixed Line phones for either Telecom Provider Digicel or Telecom Provider LIME to complete the Call, making a call
from abroad appear to be originating locally. Thus two (2) SIM Cards are
involved; one Legitimate from the Fixed Line unit here in Jamaica, most likely
hosted at the premesis of the Local Telecom Company or Telecom Equiptment
Contractor and the other, an illegal SIM in an unlocked cellphone owned by the
person abroad.
Network Engineers
making big bucks selling company info – The French Connection
According
to my sources, Network Engineers, who are bribed with substantial sums of money
working within Telecom Provider Digicel
and Telecom Provider LIME, supply the
SIM Cards to a local Telecoms Contractor or Telecom Equipment Supplier here in
Jamaica along with:
1.
Valid IMSI information for the SIM Cards
2.
Tower ID and Sector ID’s for Cell Towers
3.
Access to MGW (Media Gateway)
4.
VPN (Virtual Private Network) Remote
Terminal Access i.e. Logins and Password
They,
the Network Engineers, make the changes in the Ericsson’s MINSAT and DWS
Databases via Terminal Access at the Central Mobile Switch at Digicel’s MSC (Mobile Switching
Center) or LIME MSC as requested and
paid for by these local Telecom Equipment suppliers that are involved in this
illegal Bypass!
This
is similar to what I’ve described in my blog article entitled
“Digicel's
Voicemail Problems as their MINSAT and DWS Databases get hacked by Robin Hood -
Upgrade Voicemail to Paid Advertising and Fiber Optic Backhaul as it's A good
Day to Die Hard”.
That
information is what the Network Engineers are bribed to sell to these local
Telecom Equipment suppliers with whom these Network Engineers at Telecom
Provider Digicel and Telecom
Provider LIME have an arrangement. These
local Telecom Equipment suppliers, one of whom I was informed was a Contractor,
then sell that information to the makers of the Femtocell or Attocells abroad
who then pay them even more money for this information, which changes on a
monthly basis.
This
explains the reason why CEO of Digicel Jamaica, Barry O'Brien made
the statement on the trend of Illegal Bypass from Inbound International Calling
from USA and Canada using LIME and Digicel SIM Cards in unlocked
cellphones, quote: “Nowadays we can identify certain SIMs that are involved and
we shut them down. They are just one step ahead of us and these are quite large
sums of money involved here, estimated to be as much as US$1 million per month
($109 million)”.
Dear
reader, this is a VERY SERIOUS ongoing problem that involves information that’s
changing on a Monthly basis. That information is the IMSI Numbers, which
identified each SIM Card in their Network and is refreshed monthly after a few
SIM Cards expire after ninety (90) days as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “The
Prepaid Cycle and How Prepaid Credit gives your SIM Card access to the Prepaid Network”.
Each
month, however, a Security Audit is done of the Ericsson MINSAT and DWS
Databases to ascertain how many of these SIM Cards have expired and thus how
many can be recycled back into the pool of usable SIM Cards. According to my
source, it is this information along with the information mentioned above that
these Network Engineers working at Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider LIME sell to the Telecom Equitpment
Supplier or Contractors involved in this fraud.
Network Engineers
Selling Information – Block Google Drive, DropBox, Social Media and Email
So
how to stem the problem?
It’s
nearly impossible, as this information can be save in Text files and smuggled
out using Thumb Drives. If there are restrictions on the use of Thumb Drives, a
really clever Network Engineers working at Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider LIME can create a Dropbox or Google Drive account.
They
can then place the information in a Public Folder with a Link for his cronies
to retrieve later as described in my blog article entitled
“How
to share Public Dropbox Folders, allowing Downloads from your Dropbox Account -
Sharing is Caring up in the Clouds”.
Alternatively,
the Network Engineers working at Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider LIME can convert the document into a *.PDF
file as explained in my blog article
entitled “How
to Create PDF Documents using PDFCreator” and email it to a legitimate
email while BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) the information to another email, assuming
that his internal office email allows him to send emails outside of the
company!
Increasing
Salaries won’t work. Telecom Provider Digicel
and Telecom Provider LIME need to lock
down their Network Engineers access to critical information, even if it means:
1.
Encrypting their Hard-Drives and
associated Files
2.
Block access to Social Media, Email and Google Drive and Dropbox
3.
Making it as such that Right-click Copy
and Paste as well as Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V Copying isn’t possible
4.
Making their Workplaces totally
Paper-Free i.e. using secured Tablets
5.
Biometric Identification for Computer
Terminals running Ericsson’s MINSAT and DWS Databases
If
Telecom Provider Digicel and
Telecom Provider LIME don’t take these
measures, then the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining empowered
under the Telecommunications Act of 2012 and their binding BTA’s, Minister of
Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell can force Telecom Provider to pay up the missing USF Contributions
and Telecoms Taxes based on estimated Revenue they should have been receiving
from International Calling!
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