MOBILE TELEPHONE THEFTS

That this House notes that customers are liable for the cost of telephone calls incurred on their mobile telephones after they are stolen and before the theft is noticed and reported; further notes credible research from the consumer organisation Which?, that nearly six million people were victims of mobile telephone theft in the past five years; recognises that such bills can be massive especially when stolen telephones are used for expensive internationalcalls, sometimes by organised crime rings; believes that mobile telephone companies have insufficient incentives to find solutions to this growing problem because they continue to make profits on the bills of their innocent customers; and urges the companies in these circumstances to charge the lower wholesale rather than the much higher retail costs which could dramatically reduce the cost to those who have suffered both theft and a sometimes huge penalty.