The Reporting Body Identifier is the first two digits of a GSM Type Allocation Code, and indicates the GSMA-approved organization that registered (or, before 2002, approved) a given mobile device, and allocated the model a unique code.
The numbers are loosely based on the telephone country codes of the organization identified, as most approving nations used a single approval body endorsed by their national GSM Association chapter. However, not all RBIs follow this tendency.
According to Permanent Reference Document TW.06, Appendix A of the GSM Association, the current RBI codes indicate the following approval/allocation bodies:
| Code | Group/indication | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| 00 | Test IMEI | Nations with 2-digit CCs |
| 01 | PTCRB | United States |
| 02 - 09 | Test IMEI | Nations with 3-digit CCs |
| 10 | DECT devices | |
| 30 | Iridium | United States (satellite phones) |
| 33 | DGPT | France |
| 35 | BABT | United Kingdom |
| 44 | BABT | United Kingdom |
| 45 | NTA | Denmark |
| 49 | BZT / BAPT | Germany |
| 50 | BZT ETS | Germany |
| 51 | Cetecom ICT | Germany |
| 52 | Cetecom | Germany |
| 53 | TUV | Germany |
| 54 | Phoenix Test Lab | Germany |
| 91 | MSAI | India |
| 98 | BAPT | United Kingdom |
| 99 | GHA | For multi RAT 3GPP2/3GPP |
Normally, when a RBI is 35, phone have 1800 band, but if its 01, will not have it,(Motorola, Nokia). There are some exceptions for the RBI 01, on LG and Sony Ericsson
The "Reporting Body Identifier" is also known as the Regional Code in the CDMA world. The IMEI and MEID structures are superficially the same except that the first two digits must be decimal for an IMEI, and must be hexadecimal for an MEID. In 3GPP2 speak the GSMA is the Global Decimal Administrator while the TIA is the Global Hexadecimal Administrator.