Cellphone Database

The largest wireless carriers are banding together with regulators and law enforcment officials to launch an effort to make stolen cellphones and other mobile devices as useless as an empty wallet. The goal is to cut down on increasing thefts of smartphones by making them less appealing to criminals. AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel Corp. said Tuesday they will create a central database to track stolen devices and prevent them from being reactivated.

The largest wireless carriers are banding together with regulators and law enforcment officials to launch an effort to make stolen cellphones and other mobile devices as useless as an empty wallet. The goal is to cut down on increasing thefts of smartphones by making them less appealing to criminals. AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel Corp. said Tuesday they will create a central database to track stolen devices and prevent them from being reactivated.