MEXICO CITY — Millions of cellphone users across Mexico face the threat that their service will be cut off as soon as today for failing to register their phone numbers with the government — a requirement aimed at curbing a rash of telephone extortion attempts.
Only 70 percent of Mexico’s 83 million cellphone subscribers had registered their numbers by Tuesday afternoon, according to the Federal Telecommunications Commission.
A gradual suspension of unregistered numbers would begin today, said Hector Osuna, a top telecommunications official.
Some analysts doubted the government would carry out its threat to force cellular companies to suspend service on a huge scale, saying the economic effects would be too heavy.
Last year, Mexico’s Congress mandated that cellphone users list their names and other personal data with a national registry as a way to cut down on runaway extortion schemes.
Antonio Romero, a purified-water distributor, said his home recently received such a demand.
“They called my mom and said, ‘Your son has been in an accident. You need to deposit 5,000 pesos in a bank account (for medical care).’ ” She suspected fraud and called her son, who was fine.
