Telstra Blocks 25,000 Stolen Handsets"

Australia's Telstra says that it has blocked 25,000 lost or stolen GSM phones from its network. On average Telstra is blocking 119 phones a day, down from 137 in August 2002, when it first introduced the initiative. Telstra became the first Australian carrier to introduce this technology last August, and when the final mobile carrier introduces IMEI blocking at the end of March, phones reported as lost or stolen will be unable to be used on any GSM network. Telstra's latest figures on lost and stolen mobile phones also show that of the 25,000 blocked phones - 30% were lost and 70% were stolen, with 12% later found by the owners and unblocked.

Telstra Consumer and Marketing, Group Managing Director, Mr Ted Pretty, "The initiative of Telstra and the other mobile carriers, acting with the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA), to implement blocking using the handset's serial (or IMEI) number represents one of the first instances in the world where the industry has acted as a whole to address what could have become a serious social issue."

If a person is considering purchasing a second-hand mobile phone and wants to be sure it is not blocked from the Telstra network, they can call a special number and provide the IMEI number for checking."

Posted to the site on 27th March 2003