Registry To Help Track Mobiles
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday June 7, 1999
Australia's telecommunications industry has begun planning a central registration system for mobile phones following years of criticism over difficulties in tracing stolen phones.
The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA), which represents mobile phone carriers, service providers and manufacturers, has asked for proposals to develop and maintain a national database of stolen mobile handsets.
The database would be introduced by the end of the year.
Phone companies have been criticised for failing to use the technical capabilities of their networks to assist in the reporting and recovery of stolen phones.
Previous talks among mobile carriers about establishing a registry collapsed due to concerns about the disclosure of confidential commercial information and the cost of such a system.
The executive director of AMTA, Mr Peter Russell, said a database on this scale would be a world first. It would be easily accessible by mobile carriers, consumers, business and the police.
"The central focus of the request for proposals is the creation of a repository of information which can be used by industry, law enforcement agencies, businesses and the community," he said.
"By doing that, it will facilitate the return of handsets, minimise the use of stolen handsets on networks and further assist law enforcement agencies to prosecute criminals. It will be up to the final system supplier to determine the exact nature of database, but to my knowledge, no other country has a system this comprehensive."
An estimated 50,000-60,000 mobile phones are lost or stolen in Australia each year, a number which AMTA argues will be greatly reduced when there is a register of unique IMEI (international mobile electronic identification) serial numbers.
IMEI numbers are already built into every mobile phone. With a centralised system, consumers could call a 1800 number to report a stolen phone's IMEI number, and police could check the database of numbers against the estimated 60,000 unclaimed phones in their possession.
Second-hand dealers could also call the 1800 number to identify stolen phones.
Senator Ian Campbell, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications, said the Government had encouraged a self-regulated industry solution.
"After extensive discussion all the mobile carriers have agreed to comply with AMTA's decision on the final system," he said.
"This will appease community concerns about the issue, as it is really the first announcement about how Australia as a nation will fix the problem. Although technological changes will give us better solutions in future, we will be sure to choose a flexible proposal that can change as time goes by."
It is hoped that in the future, phone companies will be able to disable mobile phones as soon as they are stolen. Senator Campbell said carriers did not have reliable technology to allow for this feature but "they are looking into the more complex issue of disabling phones to see if it can be implemented using this database at a later stage".
The AMTA is negotiating with about a dozen companies who have expressed interest in managing the database system, and proposals will be accepted until the end of June.
The proposals will be judged on several criteria, including the capacity to pay for the database.
© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald
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