Vodafone Ireland will block stolen mobile phone handsets from making or receiving calls on its network from the start of December in an effort to reduce mobile phone crime. The block will start once the handset is reported stolen.
The firm, which has 1.7 million Irish subscribers, is also linking its new anti-theft system to a central equipment identity register that should eventually prevent stolen handsets from being used on all Europe's mobile phone networks. Vodafone's system works by logging a handset's international mobile equipment identifier - a unique number given to every mobile - when a handset is reported stolen. It is then able to block that handset from accessing its mobile network to make or receive telephone calls.
Vodafone plans to create a European database of stolen handsets that will be linked to a central register currently being created by the GSM association. This international register will be based in Dublin and should prevent stolen mobiles from being used overseas. Previously, mobile phone firms have only been able to block the SIM cards that enable users to connect with their network operators. This enabled stolen handsets to be reused by people who simply replaced the SIM card in a phone.
But the new system will prevent people from simply swapping a SIM card in a handset to a rival operator. Now, if a person inserts an O2 SIM card into a stolen Vodafone handset, they will not be able to make calls to an 087 number, a Vodafone spokeswoman said.