The GSM Association announced plans to upgrade a database used by GSM operators that can identify stolen mobile phones. The database ensures that stolen phones cannot be resold.
The association said it updated its own centralized, global database as well as a database available to individual operators. The association said the updated databases will cut costs for operators tracking stolen phones.
The GSM Association operates a global Equipment Identity Registers database. When a phone is reported stolen, a carrier can upload information about the phone to the EIR database. That information then can be disseminated to other GSM operators around the globe.
“The cost to operators today of implementing local stolen phone databases, on a per subscriber basis, is prohibitively high,” said Rob Conway, the association’s chief executive officer. “This has been a significant barrier to implementation for many operators, in many markets of the world. Our members are in need of more cost-effective solutions tailored to the needs of their markets.”
Phones can be identified by their unique International Mobile Equipment Identity information, which is then uploaded into the EIR database. An operator can decline service to a phone using an IMEI number that has been blacklisted. Enfora, Mitsubishi, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, PalmOne, Panasonic, Philips, Sagem, Samsung, Sanyo, Siemens and Sony Ericsson support the IMEI program. Notably missing from the list are Korean manufacturers LG Electronics Co. Ltd. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
