JAKARTA, Indonesia—Telstra, Australian’s leading mobile operator, will commence action to ban stolen mobile phones from its network as part of a broader campaign to curb incidences of mobile-phone theft. In the action, Telstra will shut down mobile phones based on international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) numbers that identify them as either lost or stolen.
David Thodey, Telstra Mobile’s group managing director, asserted that IMEI blocking is the breakthrough Telstra and the rest of the industry must try. To be effective, the operator will work through a series of technical and regulatory limitations of IMEI blocking.
In addition, the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) said that Australia is leading the world in developing a solution to this complex problem and is committed to implementing a range of initiatives to combat mobile-phone theft. Currently, there are approximately 100,000 handsets reported as either lost or stolen in Australia alone.
The action will be the first in the Asia-Pacific region, where reuse of lost and stolen mobile phones is significant. The U.K. is implementing a similar strategy (see related Europe news).
