Policy & GovernmentDeveloping

Mexico Is Registering Every Mobile Line. Here's What It Actually Means.

Published · September 18, 2026Updated · September 18, 2026Last verified · September 18, 2026

What changed

Since January 9, 2026, every Mexican mobile line must be linked to its holder's identity — CURP plus official ID for people, RFC for businesses — under the telecommunications law reformed in June 2025. Unregistered lines are being progressively suspended on a schedule that runs, by the number's last digit, through December 31, 2026. Suspension is reversible: registering restores the number.

Who it affects

Mexican citizens

every personal line, up to ten per CURP.

Foreign residents

the same requirement; your CURP plus passport or resident card.

New arrivals without a CURP yet

a temporary CURP mechanism exists, with added friction.

Tourists

foreign SIMs and eSIMs roaming in Mexico sit outside the scheme; buying a Mexican SIM now involves passport registration.

Businesses

a separate multi-line process through the RFC.

How it works

The rules come from the telecommunications law reformed in June 2025, implemented through lineamientos the regulator (CRT) published in the Diario Oficial on December 9, 2025, effective January 9, 2026. Carriers and virtual operators must link every line to a verified holder. New SIMs register at activation; existing lines had until June 30, 2026, after which progressive suspension began, with final cut-offs running digit by digit to December 31, 2026. A suspended line keeps emergency calling, and registering it — even late — restores service without a waiting period.

The government's case

President Claudia Sheinbaum has defended the registry as a tool against telephone extortion and fraud, and has explicitly denied it will be used to spy on people. The official logic: if a line can be traced to a verified identity, anonymous mass extortion calling gets harder.

What critics say

The digital-rights organization R3D says the scheme launched without safeguards against abuse: in its analysis, security authorities can request line data without a judicial order under the national intelligence law, and the rules carry no obligation to report how often that happens. R3D also questions effectiveness, noting that around nine in ten extortion calls run over internet-calling services the registry does not reach. Telecom specialists add that number spoofing and foreign SIMs offer criminals routes around it, and legal critics argue a universal obligation is a disproportionate answer to the problem. The government rejects the espionage characterization. None of these competing claims has been resolved by a court.

The history that matters

Mexico has tried this before. The 2021 PANAUT registry demanded biometric data from every phone user, and the Supreme Court struck it down in April 2022 as an unjustified violation of privacy and data-protection rights that had not been shown necessary or effective. The 2026 scheme was built differently on exactly the points the Court objected to: no biometrics, no ID copies retained, no single central database. Whether those differences change the constitutional answer is an open question — legal challenges are in motion, and no court has ruled on the new scheme.

Where things stand

As of September 18, 2026

As of mid-September 2026, roughly two-thirds of Mexico's expected lines had been linked, millions of unregistered numbers had been suspended as their digit deadlines passed, and more than a million suspended lines had been reactivated after late registration. The dated sources below carry the exact figures, which change weekly.

What it actually means

If you live here or are moving here, register each Mexican line before its deadline and keep the confirmation — the process is free and runs through your carrier or the CRT portal.

The practical sting of suspension is not the lost calls; it is that SMS banking codes stop arriving. Do not let a line you depend on lapse.

No CURP yet? Plan connectivity for the gap: roaming on your home SIM works, and you can register a Mexican line once your paperwork lands.

Check the CRT portal for lines linked to your CURP that you never opened — the same registry that obliges you also lets you catch identity misuse.

Tourists on foreign SIMs are not affected; a Mexican prepaid SIM now involves showing your passport at purchase.

PTM Take

Our interpretation of the practical impact — clearly separated from the facts above.

Our read is practical, not political: this is now simply part of having a phone in Mexico, the way showing ID is part of opening a bank account. Register early, keep proof, and treat every figure and deadline you read — including ours — as dated information worth re-checking, because the rollout is still moving and the courts have not had their final word. We would not build a connectivity plan on workarounds: foreign eSIMs cost multiples of local rates and solve a problem that fifteen minutes of registration solves properly. And it is worth knowing who actually holds your data — your carrier, under rules that prohibit keeping biometrics — before accepting anyone's hot take about what this law does.

PTM Editorial

Sources

Every factual claim above is drawn from the sources below and stated at the certainty the source supports. Dated, because facts change.

OfficialComisión Reguladora de Telecomunicaciones · gob.mxLa CRT aprueba y emite los Lineamientos para la identificación de líneas telefónicas móvilesDec 2025

OfficialSuprema Corte de Justicia de la NaciónPleno de la SCJN declara inconstitucional el PANAUT (comunicado)Apr 2022

AnalysisECIJA (legal analysis)Identificación de líneas móviles y datos biométricos: nuevas obligaciones y prohibicionesJan 2026

AnalysisIDC OnlineNuevos lineamientos para identificar líneas telefónicas15 Dec 2025

ReportingLa JornadaAprueba Comisión Reguladora lineamientos para identificar pertenencia de números telefónicos8 Dec 2025

ReportingR3D — Red en Defensa de los Derechos DigitalesInicia registro obligatorio de líneas telefónicas sin salvaguardas contra abusos12 Jan 2026

ReportingABC NoticiasSheinbaum defiende el registro telefónico; 'no es para espiar a las personas'18 Jun 2026

ReportingXataka MéxicoMéxico ya vinculó más de 9.5 millones de líneas terminadas en 1Sep 2026

ReportingEl ImparcialEspecialistas advierten que la medida será inútil para frenar la extorsión por spoofing y chips internacionales20 Aug 2026

ReportingInfobae MéxicoRegistro Celular con CURP: cómo se realiza para empresas y personas morales13 Jun 2026

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