The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT) announced a staggered schedule for registering and linking prepaid phone lines that have not yet been associated with a user, with the aim of strengthening security, combating crimes such as extortion, and eliminating anonymity in mobile telephony.
According to the agency, the measure includes specific deadlines based on the last digit of the phone number and will allow millions of users to regularize their situation between August and December of this year.
The CRT reported that, to date, approximately 63 million phone lines have been linked in the country, of which 40.2 million are prepaid and 22.8 million are postpaid. The latter do not require a new procedure, as they are already associated with the user’s identity from the moment of activation.
The regulator emphasized that the strategy aims to close loopholes used by criminal groups to commit fraud, telephone extortion, and other illegal activities, aligning Mexico with international practices implemented in more than one hundred countries.
Deadlines will depend on the last digit of the mobile phone number
Users with prepaid lines must complete the linking process directly with their telephone company, according to the following official schedule:
Ending in 0: until August 15.
Ending in 1: until August 31.
Ending in 2: until September 15.
Ending in 3: until September 30.
Ending in 4: until October 15.
Ending in 5: until October 31.
Ending in 6: until November 15.
Ending in 7: until November 30.
Ending in 8: until December 15.
Termination 9: until December 31.
The authority warned that, once the corresponding deadline has passed, companies will suspend service to unregistered lines within 72 hours. During this period, only emergency and citizen assistance calls can be made, in addition to receiving earthquake alerts. Full service will be restored once the registration process is complete.
The CRT emphasized that the procedure will not be carried out by the federal government, but directly by the mobile phone companies, which will only associate the user’s name and CURP (Unique Population Registry Code) with the phone number, discarding the storage of additional data or images used during the process.
It also specified that the information may only be requested by the competent authorities when there is a formal investigation and under the procedures established in current legislation.
Source: debate
