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Latin American mobile identity registration mandates

Updated 6 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-09-21 20:35 UTC → 2026-10-06 22:04 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Mexico and Chile have implemented mandatory registration processes for prepaid mobile lines to combat fraud, extortion, and illicit activities. In Mexico, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT) is managing a staggered registration schedule requiring users to link lines with official identification or their CURP to avoid service suspension. ~~While the CRT aims to purge inactive lines, criminals are exploiting the mandate through fraudulent calls claiming a user’s line will be suspended to steal sensitive information.~~ Following the September 15 deadline for mobile lines ending in the digit ‘2’, the CRT reported significant service suspensions affecting approximately 4.5 million lines. Of these, about 2.05 million users are expected to recover service after completing registration, while an estimated 2.5 million lines will be decommissioned as part of a cleanup of unused, promotional, or single-use SIM cards. As of September 19, 9,436,832 lines ending in ‘2’ had been successfully linked, representing 82.2 percent of the expected total for that segment. Following the September 30 deadline for lines ending in ‘3’, the CRT announced that approximately 2.5 million lines in this block will be suspended due to a lack of registration. As of October 4, 9,851,807 lines ending in ‘3’—representing 87.3 percent of the estimated 11.2 million lines in that segment—had successfully completed the linking process. Over 1.2 million users have already reactivated their service, with an additional 1.4 million lines expected to be reactivated shortly. Nationally, the CRT ~~reported~~ reports that 86,561,385 ~~lines—roughly~~ lines have been linked, accounting for 72.1 percent of the total expected ~~total—have been successfully linked.~~ registrations. The regulator anticipates a total cleanup of 25 million lines across the country, including inactive promotional chips and lines used for illicit activities. ~~Users with suspended lines can reactivate service through their provider, which may include a digital ‘proof of life’ verification.~~ Suspended lines remain capable of making emergency calls (911), accessing citizen assistance, and receiving seismic alerts. To prevent evasion, the CRT warned that using foreign eSIMs will not exempt users from legal requirements. Users with numbers ending in 3 must complete registration by September 30. Chile continues its mandate requiring operators to associate prepaid lines with specific user identities, including national ID or passport numbers.

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