Cell phone companies see spike in surveillance requests ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Mobile phone carriers received more than 1.3 million requests last year from U.S. law enforcement agencies for their customers? phone records and the requests are on the rise, according to data gathered as part of a congressional inquiry into cell phone surveillance.

Representative Edward Markey released data on Monday from nine wireless carriers revealing the number of requests in 2011 for cell phone records. Neither law enforcement nor companies are required to report such requests, making the inquiry and release of information from the companies the first public accounting of law enforcement?s use of cell phone surveillance.

Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, sent letters to nine wireless carriers last month asking for information on the volume and scope of the requests after The New York Times reported in April that cell phone tracking had become a common practice for police with little or no oversight.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc; ATT Inc; Sprint Nextel Corp; T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG; MetroPCS Communications Inc; C Spire Wireless; Cricket Communications Inc, TracFone, a unit of Mexico?s American Movil, and U.S. Cellular responded to Markey?s inquiry.

According to the data, No. 1 U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless reported an average spike in requests of about 15 percent a year over the last five years, with around 260,000 requests last year. No. 4 carrier T-Mobile USA said it has seen a

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