Phone theft is becoming a huge problem for consumers in the US. In a move to try and reduce phone theft, major carriers in the US are banding together to create a database of sorts to help fight phone theft.
The database will be created and maintained by the major carreriers in the US and is designed to track and disable smartphones that have been reported stolen by customers. The carriers plan to deny stolen devices voice and data, which should deter anyone from stealing phones.
The Wall Street Journal reports that cellphone theft is fast becoming one of the gastest growing crimes in the US, and the new deal (which the US regulatory body Federal Communications Commission is a part of) means that the carriers should pool their databases together to be able to block devices across America.
There are also plans to share this particular stolen phone database to other countries and carriers, which should also cut down the export of stolen devices to other countries.
Hopefully this initiative also somehow manages to reach our shores, with both Smart (and by extension, Sun) and Globe cooperating to create a similar stolen phone database. While you can block devices locally when it’s stolen by reporting your stolen devices’ IMEI to the NTC, the process is slow and cumbersome. With a combined national database, it will be theoretically easier to block stolen cellphones locally, which is a huge problem in the Philippines.
Source: Wall Street Journal