Mexico to suspend unregistered prepaid mobile lines as deadlines approach
The Mexican government’s telecom registration program has linked about 68 million mobile lines to the identity of their users, but roughly 40 million prepaid lines remain unregistered. Registration is mandatory and will be carried out by the telecom operators, not by the state, with the data (name and CURP) kept only by the companies. A calendar based on the last digit of the phone number sets staggered deadlines, starting on 15 August 2026 for numbers ending in 0 and ending on 31 December 2026 for numbers ending in 9. After the assigned deadline each user has a 72‑hour grace period to complete the registration before the line is suspended. The Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT) confirmed a three‑stage suspension: from 15 May 2026 outbound calls and SMS will be blocked, full signal and data will be cut on 1 August 2026, and the number will be permanently cancelled on 1 December 2026 if registration is not completed. Suspended prepaid lines will still be able to call emergency services and receive official alerts. President Claudia Sheinbaum says the measure aims to strengthen security and help investigate crimes such as extortion and locate missing persons, not to create a surveillance database.
Entities: Agencia de Transformación Digital y Telecomunicaciones (ATDT) · Claudia Sheinbaum · Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT) · José Antonio Peña Merino · Mexican government · Mexico
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 8 SOURCES] President Claudia Sheinbaum says the registration aims to combat crime such as extortion and locate missing persons, not to monitor citizens. (presidential comment)
- [● 5 SOURCES] Users who miss the deadline have a 72‑hour grace period before possible suspension of service. (ATDT spokesperson)
- [● 8 SOURCES] A total of about 68 million mobile lines have been linked to user identities. (68d5bb1e-2dfe-4250-a7f9-b3db870a1679, e9b9d57c-08b5-4d77-b030-67560e925327, ac8df82e-b541-49f9-856e-f044acd344ee, 28a67a)
- [● 11 SOURCES] Unregistered prepaid lines will be suspended after the grace period. (official announcement)
- [● 11 SOURCES] Approximately 40 million prepaid mobile lines in Mexico remain unregistered. (multiple Mexican government statements)
- [● 8 SOURCES] The registration data are retained by the telecom operators, not stored by the federal government. (government clarification)
- [● 11 SOURCES] Registration deadlines are set by the last digit of the phone number, starting 15 August for numbers ending in 0 and ending 31 December for those ending in 9. (government schedule)
- [● 11 SOURCES] The registration process is scheduled to be completed by the end of December 2026. (government timetable)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] IFT confirmed a three‑stage suspension: May 15 restriction of outgoing calls/SMS, August 1 full signal and data block, and December 1 final cancellation for unregistered lines. (IFT announcement)