Fed: Stolen phones soon to become worthless, association says

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Fed: Stolen phones soon to become worthless, association says

CANBERRA, Aug 16 AAP - Stolen mobile phones are set to become worthless to their newowners, the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) believes.

Telstra has already blocked more than 45,000 lost and stolen mobile phones in the yearsince it introduced anti-theft technology across its GSM mobile network.

AMTA chief executive Graham Chalker said a stolen mobile phone would be unusable onany GSM network in Australia once inter-carrier blocking became operative from mid-September.

"When combined with forthcoming Commonwealth and State legislation prohibiting themodification of IMEIs (identification numbers), stolen mobile phones will become a worthlesscommodity," he said in a statement.

Telstra consumer and marketing group manager Greg Young said Telstra was the firstcarrier in Australia and one of the first in the world to introduce technology to blockuse of mobile phones reported as lost or stolen.

The technology makes use of each phone's exclusive IMEI or serial number.

"More than 45,000 customers, or more than 120 each day, have benefited from our networksecurity features," he said.

"Of these, 71 per cent of handsets were reported stolen and 29 per cent were reported as lost."

Mr Young said the number of handsets blocked had risen from 115 to 120 a day but therehad been no noticeable change in the percentage reported stolen during the past 12 months.

He said Telstra believed the rate of phone theft would not significantly decrease untilan industry-wide solution was implemented and good progress was being made.

Mr Chalker said Telstra and other carriers can ultimately only do so much and it wasup to mobile phone owners to minimise the risk of theft.

Telstra's tips for keeping your phone safe:

* Never leave it in a car.

* Keep your mobile on you and never put it down in a public place or leave it unattended.

* Switch to vibrate mode in circumstances where a ring tone might attract a thief.

* Make use of your mobile's security features such as the PIN number.

* If it is stolen, report the theft to your carrier straight away.

AAP mb/wjf

KEYWORD: MOBILE