Australian stolen mobile blocking plan announced - News - Business

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Australian stolen mobile blocking plan announced

By Jeanne-Vida Douglas, ZDNet Australia
May 27, 2002
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/Australian-stolen-mobile-blocking-plan-announced/0,139023166,120265527,00.htm

The Australian Mobile Telecommunication Association (AMTA) believes consumers themselves should bear the principal responsibility for stemming the growing tide of mobile phone theft, and is launching a new initiative to drive its message home. The first stage of the campaign, which will ultimately include the roll-out of International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) blocking in March 2003, will be announced shortly in Melbourne.

Having long argued that a comprehensive approach was required to the problem of mobile phone theft, the education campaign forms a central plank of the three point plan AMTA outlined in February following a conference dealing with mobile telephone theft prevention.

The three point plan identified at the conference included increasing public awareness of security features, technical solutions (including IMEI blocking), and regulatory reform such as outlawing IMEI tampering and handset re-birthing.

AMTA CEO Ross Monaghan, said plans for the technical, regulatory and educational aspects of the campaign were on track.

-We will be conducting an education campaign funded jointly by the industry, the government and the police," Monaghan said. -For a long time the industry has been saying IMEI blocking in itself is not the solution."

Monaghan said more details regarding the campaign's progress would be released in the wake of his meeting with the police commissioner.

-There are really only two countries as advanced as we are at the moment, the UK is also undertaking a similar initiative," Monaghan said. -There is a role for consumers and at this stage we are looking at helping them to protect themselves."

Not wanting to be outdone, Vodafone recently announced it would be ready to roll out IMEI blocking in December - well within the March 2002 deadline. However, it was unable to provide any further details about the technology or the roll-out process, or how its early preparedness might benefit consumers.

-It would be pointless for a carrier to deploy IMEI blocking on its own," said Emma Terleske, PR manager for Vodafone Australia. -IMEI blocking is just one part of the initiative."