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The controversial phone line registration is already taking its toll on mobile phone companies. According to a new report, there has been a loss of 1.7 million accesses in three months.
A report from The Competitive Intelligence (The CIU) points out that the purge by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT), which is leading the mandatory line registration strategy in Mexico, reduced the user base from 162 million lines to 157.1 million between the final days of 2025 and June 30, 2026, a drop of 1.7 million in the second quarter of the year.
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The report details that the main impact of this reduction is concentrated in the prepaid line segment, which lost up to 6.3 million lines during the first half of 2026, and is derived from the mandatory registration of mobile lines.
The CIU specifies that the drop is due to the effects "derived from cell phone registration that has triggered a regulatory purge process." The loss of millions of accesses has affected companies such as Telcel, Bait, AT&T, and 170 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs).
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The cost of this purge is seen more clearly in the prepaid system, where there are more lines with low top-ups, occasional use, or that function as secondary numbers.
According to The CIU, some users have chosen to abandon an access they consider expendable, reduce the number of lines they use, or postpone compliance with the registration. Added to this are factors such as the "lack of digital skills," the distance from service centers, lack of knowledge about the process, and lack of interest in completing the mandatory procedure.
While the prepaid segment has been affected, the report notes that postpaid gained ground, as users prefer to pay for connectivity services: "The market is transitioning toward a more active user base with a greater willingness to pay for connectivity," the report says.
“The challenge now is to prevent registration from becoming a barrier to accessing connectivity,” highlights The CIU.
Calendario de registro de líneas telefónicas
To continue with the mandatory phone line registration, the CRT launched a calendar based on the last digit of the user's phone number. If it is not complied with, the line will be canceled.
Así quedó el calendario de registros telefónicos:
- 0: 15 de agosto
- 1: 31 de agosto
- 2: 15 de septiembre
- 3: 30 de septiembre
- 4: 15 de octubre
- 5: 31 de octubre
- 6: 15 de noviembre
- 7: 30 de noviembre
- 8: 15 de diciembre
- 9: 31 de diciembre
“Once the deadline corresponding to each digit has passed, phone companies will suspend the service of those lines that have not been linked within the following 72 hours, and they will only be able to make calls to emergency numbers, citizen service numbers, and their phone company, as well as receive earthquake alerts,” said the commission.
Linking the line is done through the website https://registratulinea.crt.gob.mx/. In person, it is necessary to go to a customer service center of your phone company with a valid ID.
According to a recent count, the CRT points out that so far there are 69 million 953 thousand 336 linked lines, 48 percent of the total.
[Publicidad]