Of all robberies committed yearly in the United States, One in 10 is a theft of a cell phone, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
An FCC study conducted this week found that more than one million smart phones are stolen every year. The agency admitted that those numbers might even be low, because the FCC only collected data from 21 jurisdictions.
Agency Chairman Tom Wheeler is asking cell phone service carriers to cultivate data about how many phones are stolen continuously and when.
The FCC wants to solidify an agreement that involves making smart phones equipped with remote locking or data swiping capabilities to keep a thief from being able to access a user's files. The largest cellular companies, like Verizon, Sprint, U.S. Cellular, T-Mobile and AT&T have agreed to add these features to all phones made after July 2015.
But Wheeler asked the big-name companies to make "lock/wipe/restore" operations a function in all devices, not just smart phones, but the end of 2015.
Though lobbyists for the cell phone companies are trying to slow down what they see as an empty and arbitrary deadline for the FCC.
"The relevant state laws and the [industry] voluntary commitment contemplate new solutions in July 2015," said Jamie Hastings, an executive at the industry association CTIA. "The [FCC study] made no reference to implementing any specific recommendations by the end of the first quarter of 2015, and it is unclear why the FCC chairman's letter to some stakeholders appears to shift that timetable."
