Britain plans crackdown on mobile phone theft

LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) Britain's mobile phone industry unveiled a charter today pledging to disable most stolen handsets on all UK networks in a bid to help cut the rising tide of street robberies.

The Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum (MICAF) and industry bosses promised to block 80 per cent of stolen phones within 48 hours of the theft being reported, a move that they said would make the phones less attractive to criminals.

Last week crime figures revealed there had been an 8 per cent jump in the number of robberies in England and Wales which the government blamed on muggers stealing electronic gadgets and particularly mobile phones.

''We are committed to doing all we can to reduce the number of phones being stolen in the UK,'' said Jack Wraith, the MICAF chairman.

''The charter clearly sets out the key steps the industry will take to help cut mobile phone theft further so as to ensure that people can continue to use their phones, safe in the knowledge that measures are in place that will make them worthless to thieves if they are stolen.'' About a half of all street robberies in Britain involve mobile phone theft. Some are exported to Africa, Asia and continental Europe and today's charter will not cover networks abroad.

In 2002 MICAF announced the creation of a system to switch off stolen phones but now all five networks -- Vodafone, O2, T Mobile, Orange, and 3 -- had agreed to use a central database to ensure handsets were blocked in the UK.

In addition to the charter, Home Secretary John Reid said the government would give 1.35 million to the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit, a specialist group which was set up just over two years ago to tackle the problem.

''I believe the public should be free to carry valuable items, such as mobile phones and MP3 players, on the streets without fear of becoming a target for robbers,'' he said.

''The latest crime statistics show that most robbery is concentrated in a relatively small number of hotspot areas throughout England and Wales, the majority of which are in major cities.'' The police welcomed the moves but said the public could help by registering their phones on a special Web site, http://www.Immobilise.com.

''We are particularly pleased with the measures ... and a commitment to independently monitor performance in respect of this,'' said Tim Godwin, Assistant Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police.

REUTERS DKA SSC1344