THESTAR.COM The U.S. Federal Communications Commission, along with major wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, announced Tuesday the move to set up a database of identification numbers that are unique to each phone. With that list, cellular carriers will be able to permanently disable a phone once it has been stolen, and that will decrease their value on the street.
Until now, U.S. carriers have only been disabling so-called SIM cards, which can be swapped in and out. That’s enabled a black market to exist for stolen phones. In Canada, individual carriers can block any phone, after it’s been reported lost or stolen, but they do not share that information with their competitors.
“Each carrier keeps track of their own networks, but to create a national database, it would be incredibly complex, and probably incredibly costly,” said Marc Choma, spokesman for the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, which represents wireless carriers.
Until now, U.S. carriers have only been disabling so-called SIM cards, which can be swapped in and out. That’s enabled a black market to exist for stolen phones. In Canada, individual carriers can block any phone, after it’s been reported lost or stolen, but they do not share that information with their competitors.
“Each carrier keeps track of their own networks, but to create a national database, it would be incredibly complex, and probably incredibly costly,” said Marc Choma, spokesman for the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, which represents wireless carriers.
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