A few general questions regards a possible project

[mike_bike_kite]

I'm trying to work out how to approach providers with a new idea. Anybody know how you go about putting ideas forward to these people? I believe it should be reasonably profitable to them but, seeing as it's only an idea, I'm a bit wary of showing the idea off and then the carrier just walking off with the idea. I'm based in London (UK) but I suspect the idea will work pretty much anywhere.

It would also be very helpful if anyone can answer any of the following for me:

1. How do operators identify an individual phone?
2. Is there a MAC address like on computing equipment?
3. If so I was curious why stolen phones aren't stopped immediately (here in the UK mobile phone theft is a big issue and I was wondering why)?
4. What mechanism do providers use to work out whether a phone has "payment" left to offer calls/web/texting?
5. Do they just supply the service and work out the charges later?
6. Can services be switched out individually?
7. Are there any age demographics available for mobiles?

Sorry for the random seeming questions but I'm trying to see what groundwork is in place. I also wasn't really sure where to post my questions so I picked this forum.

Thanks for reading

Mike

[Daveoc64]

I'll try and answer as many as I can.

• How do operators identify an individual phone?
• Is there a MAC address like on computing equipment?

Each device on a mobile network has an IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) which is a unique number identifying the specific phone. While this identifies the device the customer is using, the IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) is used to actually track the customer on the network (so that their calls can be routed to them). The IMSI is stored on the SIM card and should be unique to the specific phone "line"

• If so I was curious why stolen phones aren't stopped immediately (here in the UK mobile phone theft is a big issue and I was wondering why)?

I have no specific experience of this, but when you report a phone lost/stolen in the UK, the IMEI is added to an international blacklist and should no longer be allowed on mobile networks in many countries around the world. Most networks only check the IMEI of a device against that blacklist when it first connects to the network.

At the same time, the SIM inside the phone will be disabled, meaning that it can't be used anymore. The combination of the two blocks should make the phone useless pretty quickly. Sometimes the networks are slow at getting these blocks processed, but customers aren't liable for fraudulent usage once they report the device as stolen.

Networks do not generally use IMEIs for anything once the device has joined the network.

• What mechanism do providers use to work out whether a phone has "payment" left to offer calls/web/texting?
• Do they just supply the service and work out the charges later?

In terms of postpaid (contract or pay monthly) plans, they often do just supply the service and bill it later. Often the network's billing systems are quite slow to respond to usage.

In the case of prepaid (pay as you go), they simply check (using systems "at their end") whether or not the customer has enough credit to use the specific service. If you don't have enough credit, you get a recorded message explaining that. As it's essential that they can tell in real time how much credit a customer has remaining, these systems are more reliable. Some old systems relied on storing the credit on the phone itself, but that was too easy to tamper with.

[mike_bike_kite]

Thanks Dave, that was very helpful.