Although the problem of handset theft is not of the industry’s creation, the industry is part of the solution. When lost or stolen mobile phones are rendered useless, they have no value on the black market, removing all incentive for thieves.
The GSMA encourages its member operators to deploy EIRs on their networks to deny connectivity to any stolen device. Operators should connect to the GSMA’s IMEI Database to ensure devices stolen from their customers can be blocked on networks that use the database.