By David Ponce
We can’t really understand why it’s taken so long, but there are talk that the big four US carriers will being implementing a plan to thwart phone theft by blocking their use on their combined networks. The reasoning behind this of course is that a phone that can no longer be used is of no value to anyone, thus less likely to be stolen in the first place. We’re surprised it’s taken this long simply because a similar plan has already been in place in the UK for several years, with a very high success rate.
And while this is good news, we’re also saddened that the effort is likely to take quite some time to implement.
“We are working toward an industry wide solution to address the complexity of blocking stolen devices from being activated on ours or another network with a new SIM card,” said a T-Mobile spokesperson, “This is not a simple problem to solve.”
Not simple indeed. Word is that the central database will be ready within 18 months, and that regional carriers will then come in 6 months after that for a complete rollout within two years.
VIA [ Engadget ]
What about the IMEI number? Isn’t that possible to remote block the phone by using this number?
yes