By Staff Reporter
Windhoek
Buyers of expensive cellular phones in the street, usually at a fraction of the retail price, should take note of the recent cooperation agreement between mobile operators.
The agreement was initiated by the second mobile operator, Cell One, which established a cooperation agreement with fellow mobile operators to blacklist and share information on all stolen cellular phones.
Most of the phones sold in the street are stolen phones and Cell One does not want these phones used by any person other than the genuine owner of the phone.
Under the agreement, all cellular phones reported stolen will be blacklisted and will not be able to be used on any network.
“With greater cooperation among stakeholders we will be able to make it difficult for criminals to find a safe haven where stolen phones are used unabated,” Corporate Communication Manager at Cell One Rejoice Itembu said.
Cell One customers are advised to report all stolen phones to the nearest police station in a timely manner to ensure that the blacklisting process is conducted legally.
“Stolen cell phones are identified by their unique serial number and once proof of theft is submitted to any Cell One shop, our agents will add such a phone to the database of stolen phones. Cell One will further share this list of blacklisted phones with other operators in Namibia to ensure that the phones are blocked on those networks as well.”