Riviera Maya, Q.R. — As of June 29, 2026, all mobile phone numbers in Mexico will be required to be registered to a real person. Whether on a plan or prepaid, the phones will need to be registered to a physical person with identification and a Unique Population Registry Code or CURP number.
The requirement was announced in December of 2025 by the Government of Mexico who is working with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT) to have the country’s mobile phone system properly registered.
The government says the registration is mandatory, ensuring each number is associated to a legal person or company to eliminate the anonymity of this service used to commit crimes such as fraud and extortion.
The CRT (Comisión Reguladora de Telecomunicaciones) says the new mobile phone registry includes all users who have a rental plan or a prepaid line with which they can make calls, send SMS text messages and/or make calls via the Internet in Mexico.
Mobile phone numbers not successfully registered by June 29, 2026 will be suspended as of July 1, 2026. Users with mobile numbers not registered will be limited to using their device to contact their service provider or make emergency calls only.
If a cell number is linked to a mobile plan, not registering the number does not cancel the responsibility of continuing to pay for the plan.
In the event of a suspended cell number, the suspension is not permanent. To recover the cell number, users will need to contact the company and register. The process is free, even after the deadline.
On January 8, 2026, phone companies in Mexico with unregistered users sent text messages to those numbers, alerting the user of the mandatory registration.
As of January 9, 2026, residents of Mexico with unregistered mobile phone numbers were able to do so.
Ricardo Castañeda, the Director of Regulatory Policy at the CRT, said that the process will take place throughout the first half of the year by visiting a mobile operator’s customer service centre in person or doing it remotely online.
He says the goal is “to remove the layer of anonymity that exists on the vast majority of cell phone lines. Around 85% of mobile phone lines are prepaid.
“There are no requirements or restrictions preventing anyone from acquiring a phone line. This has often been exploited to commit crimes such as fraud or extortion through the use of these services.”
He explained that the database will not be managed by the government but by the mobile telephone company.
“It is a database that will not be managed or operated by the government but rather managed, operated and safeguarded by the operators. These operators, in turn, are subject to various regulations, primarily those concerning the protection of personal data held by private entities. This is all perfectly regulated.
“There are already regulations under which the government, meaning the security and justice authorities, can request, with a prior court order, very specific or particular data from operators related to an investigation.
“However, this does not constitute unrestricted access, nor will it allow for the tracking of calls. These measures, this database, do not technically allow for everyone to be monitored or tracked; it is a registry, a database.”
The mandatory mobile number registration procedure applies to all phone companies operating in Mexico such as Telcel, AT&T, Movistar, Unefon and Bait, among others.
Anyone needing to register their mobile number in person can go to a customer serives office of their respective carrier with a valid passport for non-Mexicans and CURP number, which can be found online (https://www.gob.mx/curp/) through the government’s website.
The registration process can also be done online through the mobile carrier’s website. The online process varies by company but generally consists of selecting the registration option, entering your 10-digit cell phone number, uploading an image of your official document then verifying that the information is correct.
If completed successfully, the user will receive a registration number which will serve as proof of the date and time of registration. For online registration, cell number uers will have up to three attempts to register. If a user cannot successfully register online, they will need to go in person to customer service.
Mobile cell uers in Mexico can access the online registration for varoius cell companies by visiting:
Register your AT&T line (using a mobile phone only)
Starting February 7, 2026, a Consultation Portal will be made available so cell phone users can look up their number to check if it has been registered. There, users will also be able to see if any other cell numbers have been registered using your identification.
Riviera Maya News serving Quintana Roo Mexico since 2014
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