FCC and Columbia Team to Reduce Mobile Device Theft

The rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets -- the mobile revolution -- has brought with it very real safety concerns in both the United States and in the Republic of Colombia. The Federal Communications Commission and the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications (MINTIC) acknowledge the importance of creating a mutual cooperation strategy in the effort to reduce mobile device theft. The FCC, together with MINTIC and the Comisión de Regulación de Comunicaciones (CRC) pledge to work together with industry partners to ensure that the mobile device marketplace for consumers in each country is more secure by taking steps designed to prevent stolen mobile devices from being introduced and/or used in each other's country. Steps taken include:

• Continue to promote and work with their participating mobile service providers to block activation or use of device identified as lost or stolen from the other country' mobile operators.
• Monitor progress on reducing theft and disrupting the illegal market for stole mobile devices in their respective countries.
• Encourage other countries to urge their mobile service providers to exchange information on stolen and lost mobile devices through state of the art, secure, online data exchanges.
• Encourage industry participants to establish methodologies to benchmark progress on these efforts.
• Collaborate on best practices, technology and other solutions on this topic and share information on consumer education and outreach efforts.
• Jointly encourage industry to work together to develop a toolkit of solutions that discourage mobile device theft.