Dhaka, Jan. 3 -- The interim government has released what it describes as alarming data on fake or "cloned mobile phones" following the rollout of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR).

In an official statement on Saturday, authorities said millions of handsets using duplicate or fake IMEI numbers are active across the country's networks, but no immediate disconnection will take place.

Data compiled over the last decade show that a single IMEI number -- 99999999999999 -- has been used by about 39.1 million mobile phones.

Other major duplicates include:

* 1.95 million devices using IMEI 440015202000.

* 1.75 million devices using IMEI 35227301738634.

* 1.52 million devices using IMEI 35275101952326.

* 586,331 devices using ...