Mexico registers 68 million mobile lines, Sheinbaum rejects control claims

Mexico mobile line registration Claudia Sheinbaum telephone extortion CURP linkage

The Mexican government reports that 68 million mobile telephone lines have been linked to the owners' CURP, representing about 43 % of the 157.8 million active lines in the country. The linkage is carried out by the telecom operators, not by the state, and the data are kept by the companies. Access by authorities is allowed only with a judicial order or in missing‑person cases.

The registration is part of a security programme aimed at reducing crimes such as telephone extortion and fraud. It proceeds in phases based on the last digit of the phone number; lines ending in 0 must be registered by 15 August 2026, after which users have a 72‑hour grace period. The schedule continues through December. Most post‑paid lines are already linked; roughly 40 million prepaid lines have been linked and another 40 million remain to be registered.

President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected accusations that the government intends to control or store the personal data, reiterating that the information stays with the telecom firms. She also announced a national discussion on possibly restricting cellphone use in basic‑education schools, though no legislation has been drafted yet.

Entities: CURP (Unique Population Registry) · Claudia Sheinbaum · José Antonio Peña Merino · Mexican government · Mexico · Telecom companies · Telephone extortion

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[● 4 SOURCES] Lines ending in 0 must be registered by 15 August; after that users have 72 hours to comply or can register through a prepaid recharge. (Multiple articles)
[● 5 SOURCES] The linking of phone lines is performed by telecom companies, not by the government. (Sheinbaum and telecom officials)
[● 5 SOURCES] President Claudia Sheinbaum denied that the government intends to control or store the personal data of phone users. (All listed articles)
[● 5 SOURCES] The purpose of the registration is to combat crimes such as telephone extortion. (All listed articles)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Less than 50 % of active mobile lines are linked; total active lines are 144,585,131. (Article a26e1e51-6fc2-4b1b-ac11-c0184174c28f)
[● 4 SOURCES] Around 40 million prepaid lines have already been linked. (Peña Merino)
[● 5 SOURCES] Data from the registration is stored by telecom companies and can be accessed by authorities only with a judicial order or in disappearance cases. (All listed articles)
[● 6 SOURCES] 68 million mobile phone lines have been linked to owners in Mexico. (All listed articles)
[● 5 SOURCES] 68 million mobile lines have been linked to users' names and CURP numbers in Mexico. (Sheinbaum and telecom officials)
[● 5 SOURCES] Authorities can access linked phone data only with a judicial order or in cases of missing persons. (Sheinbaum)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Mexico has roughly 144.6 million active mobile lines, of which less than half are linked. (Regulatory data cited by Sheinbaum)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Sheinbaum announced a national discussion on possibly restricting cellphone use in basic‑education schools. (Sheinbaum)