December 2, 2005
China wants mobile phone users to register
China will soon require all mobile phone users to register with telecom providers or face a cutoff in service, reports the Associated Press.
"The new rule, announced by the Ministry of Information Industry, is part of a crackdown on telephone fraud and illegal text-messaging practices, and the country's thriving trade in counterfeit and otherwise illegally obtained mobile phones.
... A large share use prepaid phone cards and buy the subscriber identity module, or SIM, device that activates the phone without any form of registration. Up to 200 million of China's 377 million mobile phone subscribers use prepaid cards, the report said.
Implementation of the new requirement is expected to begin by the end of the year, with customers having to comply within six months or lose their phone services, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported. "
-- Related measures taken by other countries
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