How to get TAC from IMEI?

Question

The problem is simple. I have IMEI and I want to extract TAC from it. How can I do it? Is there a way to find out how many digits a TAC should have if I only have IMEI? Do I need to clearly know the year of manufacture of the device in order to know it?

Answer 1

Read 8 digits from the beginning. 6-digit TACs are rare and in the past (since 2004).

But for security, you can analyze it twice and start with the longest version, and then use the short one. If you find a phone model, you are using this TAC. If not, then use 8 digits, because older phones are well known (in most cases).

To convert tac model databases to phone, use:

• http://www.numberingplans.com/ - paid, with a downloadable sample CSV file
• http://imei-number.com/imei-number-lookup/ - free, but with captcha
• http://tacdb.osmocom.org/ - free, with downloadable CSV
• https://imeidb.gsma.com/imei/index - the "official" imei database. requires an inscription.

Answer 2

The first eight digits of the IMEI number are the TAC code. Until 2004, the first six digits were the actual identifier of the device, and the next two were the final assembly code (FAC) representing where the device was manufactured. Since then, part of the FAC has been dropped.

TAC codes are issued by two authorities (CTIA for North America and GSM for everything else), identified by the first two digits. Since TAC codes are issued sequentially, you can check items three to six to identify six-digit TAC codes. For example, I use this code:

if substr(IMEI,1,2) = '01' and substr(IMEI,1,8) < '01015900' /* CTIA */ or substr(IMEI,1,2) = '35' and substr(IMEI,1,8) < '35150100' /* GSMA */ then TAC_TYPE = '6-digit'; else TAC_TYPE = '8-digit'; 

These ranges were determined by my personal review of TAC code tables and are not guaranteed.

See this link on Wikipedia for more details.