Cell phone trafficking attracts national attention

against a mobile phone trafficker. The conviction effort was spearheaded by Tracfone, a major victim in the trafficking game. The process is simple. Many prepaid phones offer starter kits, which include subsidized phones and a small helping of minutes. The idea is that future minutes will make up the cost of the phone. Traffickers, however, buy these phones in bulk, reflash or unlock them to work on other networks, and sell them around the world. So the real losers are the carriers. While we heard some rumblings of news two months ago, this story is just starting to garner national attention. Much of the problem has been concentrated in South Florida, where Tracfone has filed over half of the 39 suits over the past few months. Involvement from other national players, such as AT&T, Nokia, Motorola, and Virgin Mobile, has helped bring this issue to the national light. Some companies, though, think that what they’re doing is legal. They’re just freeing the phones from the captive binds of the carriers. If this is true, then carriers will no longer subsidize phones. Traffickers won’t be as apt to purchase a phone for full retail price and sell it elsewhere. Yet customers who actually benefit from the subsidized prices will be totally out of luck. Basically, a few companies with nothing but profit in mind are seeking to ruin a practice that is helping low-income families realize the power of cellular communication. Thankfully, in this case, the carriers are coming out ahead. Geeze, I didn’t think I’d ever say that.]]>