Smartphone have gained immense popularity in the past few years, but unfortunately this soaring popularity has also translated in alarmingly high numbers of smartphone thefts. To address this issue, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), police departments and the wireless phone industry have come up with a plan to fight back: a central database to track stolen phones and prevent them from being re-activated.

"We're sending a message to consumers that we've got your back and a message to criminals that we're cracking down," said FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, announcing the strategy.

On Tuesday, Genachowski joined police chiefs of New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, as well as representatives of a wireless industry trade group, to announce the new strategy.

New Legislation

In addition to encouraging wireless providers to disable and block further use of a device that was reported stolen, the groups are also working with members of Congress, who are writing a new legislation. The legislation aims to back the project and further discourage smartphone theft by making it a federal crime to tamper with a phone's unique identifiers in order to trick the blocking process.

"It's just too easy for a thief to steal a phone and sell it on the black market," said Genachowski. "This program will make it a lot harder to do that. And the police departments we are working with tell us that it will significantly deter this kind of theft."

Cellphone Thefts Alarmingly High

According to an FCC summary of the new plan, roughly out of three robberies over the past year has involved the theft of a phone. The most alarming growth in thefts occurred in urban areas. In New York City, more than 40 percent of all robberies involve cellphone thefts. The District of Columbia follows closely with 38 percent.

Major carriers covering roughly 90 percent of U.S. cellphone subscribers have agreed to participate in this project, said Chris Guttman-McCabe of CTIA-The Wireless Association. CTIA is an organization representing the wireless communications industry. Participating cellphone carriers include AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and Nex-Tech.

"Our goal is to make a stolen cellphone as worthless as an empty wallet," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, who plans to introduce the legislation to make it a federal crime to tamper with a phone's unique identifier.

Smartphones often contain sensitive personal data, especially as many smartphone owners use them for financial transactions. Wireless carriers also plan to make additional efforts in educating consumers on how to remotely lock their phones, delete data and track the device. As part of the effort, the FCC has posted a list of helpful tips.

Estimated Database Rollout

Within the next six months, each of the nation's four major carriers - Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile - is expected to implement a program to deny re-activation of phones reported as stolen. Within 12 months of the databases creation, the FCC plans to help carriers merge their programs to create a national database, in order to prevent a phone from being cracked and used on another carrier's network.

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Dave Clark)