Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
No, it's not the latest TV ad from Apple and no PCs or Macs are knowingly involved.
Instead, it's an unintended reality show arriving just in time for the holiday and end-of-year shopping season, bringing with it an entourage of disaster for Belgian telco Mobistar and its logistics provider, Ceva, as thousands of brand new iPhone 3GS models are stolen from under its noses!
As Belgian newspaper De Standaard explains, (Google translation) thieves conducted a daring precision rooftop intrusion that netted of “nearly 4000” iPhones brings about suspicions of an inside job and leave Mobistar’s many customers on an iPhone waiting list stuck waiting even longer.
The more than $2m valuation places a value of at least 500 euros per iPhone, and with the retail prices set by Mobistar (Google Translation) at 575 euros for the 16GB model and 675 euros for the 32GB, the reported value and numbers stolen seem roughly right.
Naturally, Mobistar and Ceva are all very annoyed at being stung, with Mobistar warning that it knows the serial numbers (presumably IMEI as well) and will block those iPhones from accessing Mobistar’s network, thus making the purchase of black market iPhones in Belgium for use on Mobistar’s network a risky proposition, and possibly the mobile networks of other Belgian telcos, too.
Outside of Belgium, it’s a different story. Mobile phones in Belgium aren’t sold SIM-locked on contract by law, so the iPhone is available SIM-lock free, and can be used anywhere in the world, but at a high unlocked price compared with free or low-cost iPhone subscription deals in many other places around the world.
Even if Mobistar shared the serial numbers with other telcos, there really isn’t any kind of working global movement to block stolen phones which end up on the black market in other countries, especially in countries that do have an in-country carrier agreement to block reported stolen phones based on IMEI numbers as happens in Australia.
Apple could, in theory, use iTunes to block reported stolen iPhones too, but even if Apple and the telcos blocked devices at their end (likely blocking tens of millions of devices worldwide and then cutting telco revenue from calls dramatically), hackers would likely quickly find their way around any newly imposed global blocking restrictions as there would be quite an urgency from the criminal market about it!
So, unless some rapid detective work produces a miraculously good ending by quickly recovering the goods, the stolen iPhones will wind their way around Europe and the world, with Ceva’s insurance company presumably footing the bill, and Ceva paying higher premiums.
Buying black market stuff invites its own karmic repercussions anyway, so as always: caveat emptor and do your best to never pay retail by negotiating in stores and researching by shopping around online, while always staying on the light iSide of the force!
David Bass
| ComOps, a leading Australian provider of business software products and services, has won a competitive tender to deploy its Salvus safety, r…
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