Making good on its promise to take decisive action to reduce mobile phone theft, Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) will, as of today, shut down any handset operating on its GSM network which is reported stolen or lost.

C&WJ will utilise an Equipment Identity Register (EIR), to "blacklist" stolen or lost handsets once the company authenticates a theft or lost report from a customer. The blacklisted device will then be denied service on the network, rendering the instrument useless.

Sharing 'blacklist'

The telecommunications company, in a statement, said it will share its 'blacklist' with the other mobile operators in the industry so that they can make the necessary arrangements to prevent any blacklisted phones from working on their networks.

C&WJ's action comes in response to requests from the Government for mobile service providers to implement measures that will help to alleviate the rampant mobile phone theft activity, which has been plaguing the country. CEO Phil Green said his company acquired an EIR in an effort to do its part to combat the problem.