Raj Agrawal

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Upping the Ante on Cell-Phone-Security – The New Law

May 13, 2012 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

Losing cell phones is undoubtedly a sensation that can send our nervous system into doldrums. And one can’t always rely on a cell phone tracker to be able to outthink the potential mobile thieves. Cell phones have become so much more than just mere communication devices; they are our social hub, data storage safe, memory box, entertainment centre and whatnot! Losing all of this in one blow could possibly rupture a few nerves and give one a quasi cardiac arrest.

cellphone security
Analogical illustration

Now, to save the cell phone users from that sinking feeling, Senator Charles Schumer and New York City Police Commissioner are vying to come up with a new law that would virtually make cell phone theft pointless.

The New Law

This new law that is being formulated in the New York police drawing board is vying to make stealing someone else’s phone less desirable, while at same time making it impossible to be reactivated by thieves, if stolen. As things stand, once a phone is reported as ‘missing’ its carrier deactivates the device. Even so, a lot of potential damage can be done during the time that the phone takes to be deactivated. With the new law, which is scheduled to be implemented in November 2013, its MEID number – a unique electronic serial number – will be red flagged for a solitary database per carrier, which would mean that no one would be able to reactivate it at all.

This simply means that while in the past, a person could get the MEID number changed after getting hold of a particular phone, that won’t be possible now, since the number will be fixed. This connotes that you wouldn’t have to be a cell phone tracker aficionado to feel secure about your phone, you’d just know that no one but you could access your phone and its data.

Common Database 

While Verizon has been making optimistic noises with regards to the new law, the fact that other carriers are also following suit and evolving to LTE and 4G technology means that there would be a need of a ‘cross carrier database’. This cross carrier database or a common database would help all networks and carriers ensure that stolen cell phones aren’t activated from other networks. Having a common database covers all the bases and outlets through which a human cell phone tracker or a mobile thief could possibly make use of someone else’s cell phone.

A Verizon spokesman has stated that once the law is implemented, 90 percent of American cell phone users would be supported by a humongous common database of unique ID numbers. This would allow all the carriers involved to disable any phone that is reported to be stolen.

Plan Of Action

According to resources, leading companies including Verizon and T-mobile would be working on developing programs to disable stolen phones. This should be done within the next six months. And then 18 months after that, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) would fuse them all together into the aforementioned common database, which would nullify the possible usage of other networks.

However, while we all wait for the plan of action and the lawmaking to materialize, if your phone is stolen you should still notify your carrier as soon as possible. There are some smartphones that have apps to erase your private data remotely, plus you can also ask your company if they have a cell phone recovery plan. For, even as things stand, some companies have an array of plans that could at limit the damage that losing your phone could potentially cause.

For countries except the US

There isn’t any word for any similar security initiative in other countries. It’s quite clear with the new and tighter initiative for cell phone security by the US law, other countries will follow, sooner or later.

Filed Under: Consumer Technology Tagged With: LTE, Mobility Market

4G LTE Technology Massive Roll Out To Begin In 2012

January 3, 2012 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

UPCOMING TECHNOLOGY – With a step up in the way smart phones/ tablets are used and the steep rise in data consumption, 3G technology seems outdated to meet the rising bandwidth requirements. While the data transfer capability offered by 3G networks might be sufficient for many users, it isn’t for many others. Mobile devices are continuously being used for streaming video, audio and other data involving heavy data transmission and in countries where 4G isn’t out yet, it can be disappointing. And there are devices are already out in the market that exceed the network’s bandwidth capabilities, some devices might fail to fully utilize it’s data transmission capability because of the network’s speed limitations.

4G LTE advantages
Graphical representation of data

But, this will soon be history. Firstly, let me explain what 4G LTE is. 4G LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, which is one of the latest standards in mobile network technology. It offers data transfer speeds as high as 1 GB/s. Statistics say – 280 operators in 90 countries are building 4G LTE networks, as reported by The Global Mobile Suppliers Association. And a good number of them will make their services live in 2012. And iSuppli Corp’s research suggests, the 4G LTE subscribers to grow by 400 percent in 2012; about 10 percent of global wireless subscribers will have LTE connections by 2015.

Notably, the speed offerings are variable in different countries, as you can notice in the chart above. For the geek and web enthusiast folks, it’s a win and a delicious treat for accessing content on the web at super high speeds. Just think about it, once this new technology reaches every corner of the world, human interactions over distance will be strongly connected than ever. You won’t really need to move out of your shelter or travel, where the communication can be achieved via your 4G LTE communicating device.

Via [IEEE]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: LTE, Mobility Market