Telcos put stolen mobiles on hold
By KAREN COLLIER, consumer reporter
04jan03
MORE than 100 lost and stolen mobile phones are being blocked every day to
thwart thieves.
Telstra has barred at least 12,500 hand sets from its network since
upgrading technology to disarm stolen phones and claims the move has
already begun beating crime.
The telco caved in to police and consumer group pleas to help prevent
rebirthing of "hot" hand sets from mid-August last year.
The decision followed claims greedy carriers had spent years cashing in on
crime by letting stolen phones be reused once new SIM cards were inserted.
Competitor Vodafone followed Telstra's lead this week. It too now disables
unique handset codes, known as the international mobile equipment identity,
when phones are reported lost or stolen.
But the system will not be fully in force until late March when the Optus
network comes on board.
The three networks cover all GSM phone providers. About 12.8 million
Australians own a mobile phone.
Australia is believed to be only the second country in the world to commit
to blanket blocking of lost and stolen handsets.
Complex technical, privacy and legal dilemmas have previously been blamed
for delays in barring stolen handsets.
Optus spokeswoman Louise Ingram said the company would honour its pledge to
blacklist stolen handsets by March 31.
Barred handsets can still be used for calls to emergency numbers.
A block can be reversed if a lost phone is found.
More than 100,000 mobiles were reported lost or stolen annually in
Australia before the technology was adopted.
Most are swiped from parked cars and social venues, police figures show.
The Herald Sun last year also revealed a disturbing rise in violent attacks
related to mobile phones such as street robberies and stabbings.
Young mobile theft victims had surged 600 per cent in recent years.
A New South Wales court this week heard a 19-year-old boy was killed when a
gang of teenagers robbed him of his mobile phone before ramming him into a
power pole.
Telstra spokesman Sean O'Connell said early signs suggested crime had
fallen since the handset blocks were introduced.
Phones reported missing to the carrier were down from about 130 a day in
mid-August to about 110 a day in mid-December.
But he warned users had to also help cut theft.
"Carriers can only do so much," Mr O'Connell said. "Phones should be
treated as a valuable item."
Handsets cost customers $200 to $1200, depending on their features.
Mobile phone user Kristian Aquilina, 25, of Williamstown, has twice paid
the price for lax security.
Thieves once smashed his car window and stole a phone from his glovebox,
while on another occasion he left a handset in a taxi.
Mr Aquilina said he was now far more conscious of keeping his phone close
at hand.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,5792882%255E662,00
.html
