Mexico to Require Registration for All PrePay Phone Users

Mexico is set to join the increasing number of countries which require mandatory registration for all mobile phone users, after the lower house of Congress approved a bill to create a national database of subscriber details.

The Senate passed the bill in September, and will now seek approval to the changes made by the lower house.

Under the plans in the bill, all mobile phone users will be required to submit a proof of address and their fingerprints to the mobile operators.

"The population is defenseless against the improper use of cellular phones because a real and trustworthy database of users doesnÃ't exist," said Gustavo Cardenas, head of the communications committee in the lower house.

According to statistics from the Mobile World analysts, the country ended the first half of this year with 73.45 million mobile phone users. Approximately 95% of the market is prepay - requiring a considerable registration effort by the mobile operators.

In most countries which have introduced mandatory registration processes, the reported subscriber base has dropped sharply, in some cases by as much as ten percent - largely due to multiple SIM ownerships not being declared.

The bill will also require telecom operators to keep records of all calls made from fixed and mobile phones for a 12-month period.

Posted to the site on 7th December 2008