Canadian carriers to join international database to track stolen phones

OTTAWA—Canadian wireless carriers will join an international database to help identify stolen or lost wireless devices before they are activated on their networks, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) said. CWTA president and CEO Bernard Lord said at a news conference Thursday that all Canadian carriers agreed to partner and start using the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) registry by no later than Sept. 30, 2013. The IMEI database records the unique identifying numbers attached to mobile devices reported stolen around the world, and allows participating carriers to check new activations against the database to ensure the devices are not stolen. The database, which tracks phones running on GSM, HSPA and fourth-generation LTE wireless networks, relies on participating carriers to forward reports of stolen phones so they can be registered. “Some carriers have already started, and I fully expect that some carriers will announce shortly that their database is ready to go,” Lord said in an interview. The IMEI doesn’t include older phones running on CDMA networks. “Some phones that people have today will not be covered by this database because they don’t have the right technology,” Lord said. He said most smartphones, which are more frequently the target of theft, run on GSM, HSPA or LTE technologies, not CDMA. Lord said it would cost Canadian industry players about $20 million collectively to sign onto the IMEI over the next year and that there will be additional annual costs to maintain access to the database. The CWTA will air public service commercials to educate the public about the importance of reporting stolen phones and has launched an educational website about cellphone theft called Protect Your Data, he said. Lord said combating mobile device theft in Canada requires a “multi-stakeholder” approach involving the public, companies, police, and the federal government. Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the government is looking to identify whether federal legislation could help reduce cellphone theft and what that legislation might look like. “We will look into this with interest,” he said. In a Sept. 28 letter to the CWTA, the CRTC said it was “not satisfied” by the wireless industry’s response to rising levels of cellphone theft, and called on the industry association to outline, by Nov. 30, costs and other barriers that could prevent its members from joining the IMEI. It also called on the CWTA to produce statistics on mobile device theft in each province, which Lord said the association will produce by the end of the month. In a statement Thursday, CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais congratulated Lord "for having rallied the wireless industry around this important issue." Blais said the initiative will make wireless devices less attractive to thieves and that he "would strongly encourage the industry to implement the database before September 2013 to ensure Canadians benefit from this added protection as soon as possible." nkyonka@thewirereport.ca

Canadian carriers to join international database to track stolen phones

News | November 8, 2012

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