Ecuador: failure to register cell phones puts 130,000 lines out of service

More than 130,000 cell lines were finally cleared yesterday for breach of the registration process, which began in July 2011 and ended on Thursday. The lines, whose services were suspended, belong to a minority, since about 99% of prepaid cellular reached to comply with the registration. The mobile registration was provided by the Government to try to reduce the rate of thefts of phones, because the user data will be associated to the line. After the deadline, the two largest cellular operators began canceling services to unregistered numbers. This started from the early yesterday morning. Edmundo Arias, director of Customer Service course, indicated that 62 000 prepaid lines that did not meet the registration were disqualified, ie can not make or receive calls, text messages, or any other event. Read Article