The new technology, called Phone Bak, will be distributed by Keypad Mobile Security Solutions and its international partner in the venture BAK2u Singapore.

Managing director of Keypad Mogano Madigoe said the software was developed in Singapore in 2004. When a cellphone is lost or stolen and a different SIM card is inserted, the technology will automatically send an SMS notifying two numbers chosen by the owner.

The SMS will show the number of the person using the phone and the location, which can then be used by the police to trace the culprit.

This is possible because the SMS will show the cellphone identification (ID) of the terminal to which the telephone is connected, the country ID and current network. The SMS will be sent without notifying the new user.

Madigoe said the technology had been rolled out in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, with more than 100 000 units sold since last year. "We are targeting 50 000 customers in South Africa by the end of next year," he said.

The technology will cost between R35 and R55 for a once-off fee and thereafter subscription fees of R10 to R15 a month, to be paid for periods of 12 to 24 months.

To install the software, Madigoe said customers would need to buy an installation CD and register their cellphone details on Keypad's website, which would take no more than five minutes to complete.

Once the software was installed, it would be permanent and untraceable by the thieves and could be used with all networks.

Arthur Goldstuck, the managing director of World Wide Worx, a telecommunications research company, said the software was a great short-term solution but in the long term, cellphone thieves would learn how to remove it.

"It will be an effective tool in the early days of its rollout, before it can be widely used,"he said. "It can be quite effective in tracing the culprit, but once it's widely used, syndicates will find ways to look for the software and remove it."

Madigoe said his company had already bought 10 000 units of the software, worth R420 000, from Singapore. He said the software would be developed locally when the one-year exclusive contract signed with BAK2u expired.

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