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cramer
Premium Member
join:2007-04-10
Raleigh, NC
Westell 6100
Cisco PIX 501

cramer to zod5000

Premium Member

to zod5000

Re: Isn't there a kill switch already?

There's the SIM that holds the numbers identifying you as a specific customer -- you can generally put that SIM in any phone and it'll work. (provider locks aside) BUT, the phone itself also has an identification presented to the network. GSM providers don't record that because they don't care; they aren't provisioning the *phone*. If you give them that number, they can block it from their network, but reporting the phone as stolen to them, all they can do is deactivate that SIM as they don't record IMEI's.

Other (non-GSM) phone vendors (eg. Sprint and Verizon in the US) provision the phone, so they do have the necessary information at hand to kick it off the network forever.

I can understand operators not wanting to have to maintain a "stolen phone" database, as over time, that thing is going to be H-U-G-E!

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

said by cramer:

I can understand operators not wanting to have to maintain a "stolen phone" database, as over time, that thing is going to be H-U-G-E!

There already is a shared database of stolen devices:
»www.rcrwireless.com/arti ··· hones/#_