30 million mobile subscribers in Mexico may get their service cut this weekend

Mainly the result of criminal activities like utilizing mobile phones to extort and negotiate ransoms in kidnappings, there are about 30 million people that might see their mobile phone service get cut. For weeks now, the Mexican government has been adamant in their quest to get customers to register their identities through a mix of advertising campaigns – this rash move is meant to fight crime. The deadline is set for this Saturday and so far there are still 30 million lines that remained unregistered – they can simply register by sending their personal information as a text message. Mexico's largest wireless carrier, America Movil, said that any related loss incurred by the passing of the new law would be relatively insignificant to their overall sales. America Movil has a 71 percent market share in Mexico's estimated 84 million mobile phones; with most of them being prepaid handsets. Organized crime has taken its toll on Mexico as drug trafficking and express kidnappings have led to the new law that aims to put in place the cell phone registry. Some view it as a way to hinder these criminals, but others opposed to it say that it would be ineffective due to the fact that criminals can easily register a phone to another person's identity.

source: Reuters