News 2002
Statement from Virgin Mobile's Sir Richard Branson on mobile phone crime
08/01/2002
"There is a great cost to society of a mobile phone being stolen every 3 minutes, not least the impact on the public's fear of street crime. If all five networks were capable of blocking IMEI numbers we could easily share these numbers. All of the networks could then bar a stolen phone's number, and it then wouldn't work on any network, regardless of the SIM that was put in it, rendering it useless and impossible to sell on. We should work together as an industry, and collectively lobby the government to make IMEI tampering illegal, which would become a significant deterrent to thieves, and of great reassurance to the public. However, until BT Cellnet and Vodafone see fit to upgrade their systems the solution to the increasing problem of mobile phone theft will remain largely unsolved.
"If BT Cellnet and Vodafone customers want to make their phones more secure, all they have to do is buy a Virgin Mobile, One 2 One, or Orange phone and dump their less security-conscious network!"
Notes to Editors
Virgin Mobile, One 2 One and Orange have created the technical capability of blocking an IMEI number on their own networks, thereby rendering the phone redundant. If all five networks could pass to their competitors a batch of files that had been reported stolen to the police each day, ensuring that their networks also barred the phone and rendering it useless across all five networks, this could act as a real deterrent to mobile phone theft.
Currently Vodafone and BT Cellnet do not have the capability to upgrade their systems, nor have they expressed plans to do so.
For further information, please contact:
Press office on 0845 600 6272 or pressoffice@virginmobile.com
Alison Bonny, Virgin Mobile: 07802 430 276
Steven Day, Virgin Mobile: 07931 777 777
Joanne Baker, Virgin Mobile (regional enquiries only): 07941 233 300
Julia Clark/Sasha Bradbury, Consolidated Communications: 0207 287 2087
