The transfers are usually effected through the switching of SIM cards and other mechanisms.

But Holness' initiative comes on the heels of an announcement by the largest cellphone provider Digicel that, starting April 12, it would be retailing handsets and SIM cards, separately.  The SIM card will be available for $500.

This initiative by the company, whose clientele tops one million users, is likely to make it easier for persons to effect the transfers at a time when Holness is seeking to make the process more difficult.

The two students, both of whom were from Holness' West Central St Andrew constituency, included Yanice Hall, a student of the Jose Marti High School, and Mesha-Gaye Tomlin, a sixth former at the Queen's High School for Girls.

A 17 year-old boy is a supect in Tomlin's murder, amplifying the point made by Holness that the "immense status symbolism" of some mobile phones and their expense, was fuelling a lucrative crime of cellphone theft.

He noted that the ease with which the phones, particularly those on GSM network systems, were transferred from person to person and network to network facilitated the criminal enterprise.

Holness in his resolution calls on the government to:

.  Make it illegal for anyone to tamper with or adjust the IMEI identification number on mobile GSM phones;

.  Make it compulsory that service providers establish a database of all mobile phones in the island, and that this database be connected with other GSM mobile service providers internationally through the GSM association;

.  Ensure that all GSM units must be registered with the service provider before it can be activated on the network; and

.  Ensure that in the event of theft, and once ownership can be established, the mobile instrument can be remotely shut down by the service provider upon request by the owner.  Jamaicans own an estimated 1.8 million cellphones, supplied by three players Digicel, Cable and Wireless Jamaica, and MiPhone.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20050413T230000-0500_78673_OBS_HOLNESS_WANTS_CLAMPDOWN_ON_CELLPHONE_TRANSFERS.asp