Nearly two crore mobile phones without unique identification numbers are likely to go out of service from Tuesday midnight, with government deadline to operators to block calls to such devices on security concerns expiring Monday night.

"We are not extending the deadline (of November 30). We have asked the operators not to process the calls passing through those phones without the IMEI number from today." The 15-digit International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number helps security agencies trace calls made from and received on handsets.

Mobile phone customers spoilt for choice

Over the last decade India has seen immense growth in almost all sectors. Among the most prominent of these, showing immense growth, is the Indian telecom sector that has followed a growth pattern far different from the rest of the world. With Indians being price sensitive, and emotional, the slew of advertisements try to touch these aspects -- painting streets with promising adverts.

The recent price war in the telecom sector has adopted a new dimension. As one service provider starts slashing tariffs, its peers follow making better offers at better prices. However, while making announcements on the excellent prices, the 'conditions' / mandatory information that follow are nowhere to be seen in these large campaigns as very few may note what the tiny little * carries with it.

The most recent announcement by a telecom provider offered call rates to be billed at 1p/sec. As a consumer, one is drawn to such great savings -- especially in times of inflating lifestyle expenses. But, a closer evaluation of the promise brings to light the cost differentiators. The 1p/sec call was only for calls made within its own network numbers. The calls to numbers from other operators will be charged at 1.2p/sec which brings the cost to 72p/min.