China Mobile Shutting Down Unregistered Numbers This Weekend

By Jonty Dixon

Attention China Mobile users: If you haven’t registered your real name with the network, you may have your service cut off this Saturday (October 15).

As we mentioned back in June, Chinese telecom companies— China Mobile, Unicom and Telecom—began sending out notices earlier this year requiring real-name registration for all mobile numbers in compliance with Anti-terrorism law. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has set a deadline of December 31, 2016 to have 95 percent of phones across the country registered.

Not sure if your number is properly registered? To check your status, head over to your local mobile provider business hall and bring your passport (or valid ID) and SIM card with you. From there, you'll be required to either fill out a real-name registration form or verify your information.

While the whole process should last no longer than ten minutes, long lines have been reported at local China Mobile branches in recent days thanks to daily SMS reminders from the network notifying users of the deadline. That's Beijing's own Chief Editor Oscar Holland spotted this line the other day:
[Images via China Daily, @oscarholland]

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