Ever wonder how your 3G phone just works when you get off the plane pretty much anywhere?

All mobile phone networks operate with somebandwidth - or channels - allocated to the data that actually runs the network, its billing and call management functions.

When you turn your phone on at Bangkok, the Thai network operator has to have some access to a data-base that matches the ID of the phone that just turned on in its area and then checks its network access rights so that the operator can send the bill (wholesale) to the network operator that actually bills that phone.

The call data records are not hugely secured data - because so many parties have a legitimate right to that data, for billing, call carriage etc.  Because you could get on a plane tomorrow and turn up in Los Angeles with the expectation that your phone will register and work, every network must have access to every phone's data set for matching and use if necessary.

The old days of telephone intercepts involving alligator clips and the pillar at the end of the street are long gone.   It's keystrokes to add a law enforcement telephone intercept recording authority as the C Party on every call.

The slides that the ABC's trustworthy source has leaked appear to show a powerpoint presso for some DSD program manager to convince his bosses and probably US/UK et al peers that we're monitoring the network roll-out dates for the conversion of various AsiaPac networks from the competing network standards to the dominant 3G.   That change would affect the way that data traffic on network control channels is monitored.

And what a surprise that our spooks get the Indo Cabinet phone directory lists.

One last point.  When you turn your mind to the huge volume of information available to network operators and the implied trust we have in them not to misuse it - how bad a bullet did we dodge with Conroy Corp as operator of the monopoly NBN?

PS - the threshold for understanding the context and trusting the source of the leaked powerpoint presentation that the ABC has published today is embarrassingly low.

Compare and contrast with its reasons for not reporting on the Gillard search warrant.