National
Mobile phone switch off goes ahead this weekend
By h.b. - Nov 6, 2009 - 9:58 AM
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Archive Photo EFE
All unregistered pre-paid mobile phone lines in Spain will be permanently disconnected at midnight Sunday night
The Spanish government has ignored representations made to it for an extension by the phone companies and insists that all pre-paid mobile phones numbers which have not been registered by midnight on Sunday night will disappear forever.
The phone companies have calculated that means that some three million lines will be disconnected and out of use come Monday. However, only a third of the numbers are estimated to really be in use, generally owned by pensioners who may only use the number in the case of emergencies.
The measure comes as a result of the Madrid train bombings in 2004 where anonymous pre-paid phones were used to set off the explosives, but experts doubt that the measure will be effective, given the existence of wide scale black market in numbers and the possibility to buy an anonymous number outside the country.
The Law for the Conservation of Data in Electronic Communications came into effect in Spain two years ago and obliges the phone companies to keep all the data on the destination and origin of calls, as well as the identity of all the people implicated in the communication.
Redtel, which represents the phone companies in Spain had asked for the phone numbers to be merely suspended, so that they could be re-activated when the owner of the line identifies him or herself, but the Government has rejected the idea, insisting in a complete removal of the number from service. That decision has been criticised by the FACUA consumers group among others, and notes that any outstanding balance on the pre-paid cards will also be lost.