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25 February 2004 - The GSM Association (GSMA) and leading
manufacturers including Alcatel, Motorola, NEC, Nokia,
Panasonic, Sagem, Siemens and Sony Ericsson announce
agreement on measures to drastically reduce the theft
of mobile phones in the world.
The GSM Association, the global trade association for
mobile operators, together with the world’s leading
mobile phone manufacturers have established a series
of comprehensive measures to enhance the integrity of
handset identities (IMEI – International Mobile
Equipment Identity). As a result, the effectiveness
of Equipment Identity Registers (EIR) currently in use
to disable further use of phones once reported stolen,
will be greatly improved.
In parallel with today’s announcement, the GSM
Association is undertaking a concerted drive to extend
and enhance the Central Equipment Identity Register
(CEIR), its global database register of stolen phones,
so that GSM mobile operators can work together to prevent
the reuse of stolen phones. Previous to this agreement,
the potential impact of the Association’s database
was compromised by security weaknesses in some handsets.
“This commitment by manufacturers, together with
the continued extension of the GSMA’s handset database
are critical elements in tackling the problem of handset
theft, but they are only part of the overall solution,”
said Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association. “We
would like to see a more comprehensive approach that
includes additional government-led action, such as we
have seen in the UK.”
Mobile operators welcomed today’s agreement:
"O2 is wholeheartedly behind the industry drive
to eliminate mobile theft and protect our customers,"
said Dave McGlade, CEO of O2, UK and a member of the
GSMA Board. "By working closely together in the
UK, operators have barred some 1.2 million handsets
through connection to the central register of stolen
phones. Today’s cross-industry agreement with manufacturers
to secure mobile phone identities is a major boost to
this collective effort, multiplying the value and effectiveness
of a global database.”
"The Vodafone Group is fully supportive of the
industry's efforts to combat mobile phone theft,"
said Alan Harper, Strategy Director, Vodafone Group
and member of the GSMA Board. "We have committed
to connecting to the GSMA's global database of stolen
phones on a group-wide basis, and we believe today's
agreement by manufacturers to secure the integrity of
handset identities is a tangible and important step
toward ensuring that the efforts of all operators are
fully effective."
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