Major mobile phone operators including Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile have agreed to work together against child sexual abuse content becoming available through mobile broadband networks.
Mobile phone trade association GSMA has launched the initiative on fears mobile broadband networks now being rolled out could be misused in the same way as conventional internet connections.
The alliance has been founded by the GSMA, Hutchison 3G Europe, mobilkom Austria, Orange FT Group, Telecom Italia, Telefonica/02, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile Group, Vodafone Group and dotMobi to create significant barriers to hosting, accessing, or profiting from child sexual abuse content.
Members of the alliance will work with law enforcement agencies to block certain web sites and take down content.
The companies involved have also agreed to provide hotlines for customers reporting child abuse content.
Craig Ehrlich, chairman of the GSMA, said: "We call on governments across the world to support this initiative by providing the necessary legal clarity to ensure that mobile operators can act effectively against child sexual abuse content and to step up international enforcement against known sources."
The association's members serve more than 2.5 billion customers - 85 per cent of the world's mobile phone users.
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