Mobile Phone Anti-Theft Initiative Debuts

The high incidence of theft of mobile phone will begin to drop as Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) initiated anti-theft of mobile being operated by NetVisa GSMSecured Nigeria Limited takes off next week.
Mr. Prince Emeka Uchendu, managing director, NetVisa GSMSecured, said that they have put in place a system that will curtail the theft of mobile phone in the country and other West African countries. “We have put together a Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR) and is licensed to implement this for the benefit of Nigerians,” he said.
He explained that the service which is available for both Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) subscribers and Global System for Mobile communications subscriber allows them to register the International Mobile Equipment Identity (Imei) of their phone, which is retrieved by dialing *#06# on the phone, with the service provider, NCC or NetVisa GSMSecured at no cost.
He noted that any subscriber who wants to register with NetVisa Mobile Device Security will be provided with a Personal Identity Number (Pin) to authenticate access to their system.
He added that digital networks can disable a stolen mobile phone completely using its Imei number. Mobile networks he said can track the number through calls made on their networks and if a person tries to re-register a phone that is reported as lost they will be identified. The system automatically blocks or unblocks a handset on any GSM network by sharing information in a central database called the NetVisa CEIR platform, a form of National Imei Clearing house.
Uchendu said that all mobile operators both GSM and CDMA is expected to send a list of phones to be blocked or unblocked each day or in real time and also receive the details of phones to be blocked or unblocked from the other service providers.
“This means once a lost, stolen or found mobile phone has been reported to a service provider, it can be blocked or unblocked within 24 hours. The whole process is facilitated through an electronic information exchange messaging platform hosted and operated by NetVisa mobile device security,” he said.