§ 33. Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what measures his Department is taking to lessen the possibility of theft and fraudulent use of mobile phones.
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§ Mr. McLoughlinThe scale of mobile phone thefts, and their subsequent fraudulent use, is of considerable concern to the Government, the companies involved and the victims of these crimes. I met my hon. Friend and a delegation from the Federation of Communication Services recently to discuss what further steps could be taken to tackle this problem. I welcome the initiatives which the industry is already taking, including wider use of equipment marking schemes and improved control of electronic serial numbers. My Department, with the Home Office and Oftel, are discussing with the industry how these initiatives should be pursued further. The Government are considering the proposals from my hon. Friend and the FCS for introducing a new criminal offence of reprogramming a mobile phone. In doing so, we shall have particular regard to whether mobile phone users can be adequately protected if such an offence is created, and whether any new offence would in practice be at all effective in reducing the problem of mobile phone thefts.