- Office of Electronic Communications

UKE inspection: blocking of the stolen mobile phones

In February and March 2019, the UKE Regional Branch in Warsaw conducted inspections regarding the obligation to block stolen mobile phones. The inspection of UKE covered: Orange, T-Mobile, P4, Polkomtel and Cyfrowy Polsat.

The data of the police indicate that only last year over 14 thousand mobile phones were stolen. However, this number is getting smaller every year. In 2010, it was about 30 thousand devices and in 2005 almost 60 thousand.

With the dropping number of thefts, the number of devices blocked by the operators remains constant. This number has remained at the level of approx. 3 thousand annually for the last five years. This is due to the fact that not all robbed persons ask the operator to block the device.

The mobile phone loses its attractiveness as the object of theft, presumably as it is possible to remotely establish its location and block it with the use of the functions provided by manufacturers (e.g. "Find My Device" for devices with Android or "Find My iPhone" for Apple devices).

All audited operators fulfil their obligations to accept notifications of telephone thefts and to exchange information on the stolen devices with other operators. These provisions result directly from the Telecommunications Act and are mandatory for mobile operators.

Number of stolen mobile phones registered by the police