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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / T-Mobile / May 2004GSM Phones Sold on E-Bay in UK
I have been watching E-Bay for Nokia 6310i phones for the last two weeks. On a regular basis, I see phones being sold in the UK that indicate that, while the phones are unlocked, they can not be used inside the UK. This makes me very suspicious. Does anyone know what the story is? Are these phones stolen? Thanks,  SignatureMike Schumann They could be stolen. The reason they don't work in UK is because, for some reason, their IMEI numbers have been blacklisted by the phone networks in UK. > I have been watching E-Bay for Nokia 6310i phones for the last two weeks. > On a regular basis, I see phones being sold in the UK that indicate that, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Thanks, Can a phone that is blacklisted be used in the UK while roaming with a US SIM card? Mike Schumann > They could be stolen. The reason they don't work in UK is because, for some > reason, their IMEI numbers have been blacklisted by the phone networks in [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > > > Thanks, > Can a phone that is blacklisted be used in the UK while roaming with a US > SIM card? No, a phone that is blacklisted in UK will not work in UK even with a USA SIM. That's because UK network also looks at IMEI number for validation. Phone networks in USA do record the IMEI number but they don't validate it -- USA only cares about SIM card. >>> Can a phone that is blacklisted be used in the UK while roaming >>> with a US SIM card? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >> validation. Phone networks in USA do record the IMEI number but they >> don't validate it -- USA only cares about SIM card. Do USA GSM networks exchange blacklisted handset IMEI numbers with networks in other countries? I do know that Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are in the process/or have already agreed to exchange info with networks in Western Europe countries. There's loads of stolen phones coming into East Africa and loads being stolen there as well, so this was put into effect to reduce the crime wave. I wonder if T-Mobile USA, Cingular, etc would be doing the info sharing. > Do USA GSM networks exchange blacklisted handset IMEI numbers with networks > in other countries? No, I don't think so. And I don't think that it'll happen in the future because the carriers and the mobile phone manufacturers make money from selling their wares. > > Do USA GSM networks exchange blacklisted handset IMEI numbers with > networks [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > because the carriers and the mobile phone manufacturers make money from > selling their wares. That makes no sense- blacklisting handsets takes them out of circulation, allowing carriers and manufacturers to sell more phones. Allowing the use of stolen handsets reduces the market for new phones. Probably the cost vs. benefits ratio doesn't compute for US carriers to get on the blacklist bandwagon. GSM is relatively new in the states, uses different frequencies than Euopean and African phones, and US wireless carriers give away phones to lure subscribers. Why buy a stolen phone when your carrier will just hand you a new one for signing up? >> That makes no sense- blacklisting handsets takes them out of >> circulation, allowing carriers and manufacturers to sell more phones. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >> buy a stolen phone when your carrier will just hand you a new one for >> signing up? Most Mobile/Cell phone customers in Africa and a big chunk in Europe use pre-paid/PAYG SIMs instead of getting a contract. Thus, they have to buy the handset, which makes the stolen stuff quite "attractive" at a low-cost. Why would you buy a Nokia 3390 at say, an equivalent of US $30, when you can get a nice Nokia 6100 for say, US $50? Plus, phones bundled with PAYG SIMs are shi-te compared to what you'd get for signing a contract. Ooh, you got color, baby! And no brick too! Well, now you can't do a hit and run at that jewellery store around the corner. Hey but can you impress the ladies friday nite with a swanky new color phone... like the ladies care if it's stolen. Next time I'm back in Kenya, going to call my "contacts" and get a sweet handset, tri/quad band. Should be fun. Oh, but then what if i'm on verizon by then? bugger me, i'll sell it on, guess what, EBAY! love that fat black guy doing his elevator dance. > Most Mobile/Cell phone customers in Africa and a big chunk in Europe use > pre-paid/PAYG SIMs instead of getting a contract. I understand that. I think you missed my point... > Thus, they have to buy the > handset, which makes the stolen stuff quite "attractive" at a low-cost. Why > would you buy a Nokia 3390 at say, an equivalent of US $30, when you can get > a nice Nokia 6100 for say, US $50? I'm not saying there isn't a worldwide market for stolen phones, just that it hasn't yet become a big problem in the US, therefore US carriers haven't done anything about it, like blacklisting, for instance. > love that fat black guy doing his elevator dance. Huh? I was following most of what you wrote up until then... >>> Most Mobile/Cell phone customers in Africa and a big chunk in >>> Europe use pre-paid/PAYG SIMs instead of getting a contract. >> >> I understand that. I think you missed my point... Sorry Todd. Tampa Bay Lightning's win has gotten to my head. >>> Thus, they have to buy the >>> handset, which makes the stolen stuff quite "attractive" at a [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> carriers haven't done anything about it, like blacklisting, for >> instance. True. Valid point. Hopefully it won't become a big issue. >>> love that fat black guy doing his elevator dance. >> >> Huh? I was following most of what you wrote up until then... Was talking about the Ebay tv ad. Yes, it makes perfect sense. My view is that it's not cost effective to blacklist phones. First, it's expensive to develop and maintain the software and the InfoTech infrastructure to blacklist phones. Phone get outdated very quickly and manufacturers and carrier want short upgrade cycles so they can roll-out new product and services. Everyone who needs a phone has one already. What people want is new phones with the latest technology. If a phone is stolen in a mature market and moved for use in a developing market, the carriers get to sell more overall, and thus creating more demand (because the are creating new customers). The mobile phone pie gets bigger because, in essence, the customers in mature market are subsidizing the mobile phone use in markets where growth is stronger. It's like cigarette manufacturers that indirectly support contraband from saturated markets to high tax growth markets so they can increase their sales overall. The EU recently won a big case against major cigarette manufacturers. In economics, it's called growing the pie. --------------------------------------- > That makes no sense- blacklisting handsets takes them out of > circulation, allowing carriers and manufacturers to sell more phones. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > buy a stolen phone when your carrier will just hand you a new one for > signing up? >I have been watching E-Bay for Nokia 6310i phones for the last two weeks. >On a regular basis, I see phones being sold in the UK that indicate that, >while the phones are unlocked, they can not be used inside the UK. Mine was bought and brought back from the UK. It works just fine there as well as places in Africa and Asia that I have been since I bought it back when it first came out. It is GSM, 900/1800 and 1900. Works fine. Why would you doubt that? -- John S. e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net Did the guy selling it to you advertise the fact that it was not usable in the UK? Some of the auctions on E-Bay specifically state that. Those phones are selling relatively inexpensively, so it's tempting, but certainly causes one to ask a lot of questions. Mike Schumann > >I have been watching E-Bay for Nokia 6310i phones for the last two weeks. > >On a regular basis, I see phones being sold in the UK that indicate that, [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > John S. > e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net >Did the guy selling it to you advertise the fact that it was not usable in >the UK? The one I bought was bought IN the UK and it IS usable there as well as the rest of the world where my travel have taken me. -- John S. e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net Of course, if you purchased your phone in UK it should work there. I believe the original poster was asking whether a phone he's considering buying on eBay, whose seller indicates does not work in UK, will work in USA. If the seller says the phone does not work in UK it's because it's blacklisted in UK. But that phone will work in USA provided it's unlocked. > >Did the guy selling it to you advertise the fact that it was not usable in > >the UK? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > John S. > e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net |
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