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Guangdong rejects proposal to register every mobile phone user

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Guangdong communication authorities have turned down a provincial CPPCC delegate's request to bind the identities of mobile phone users with their numbers, arguing it is impractical, the Guangzhou Daily reports.

'As the regulation to bind the identity of a citizen with a phone number would affect every user in the whole mobile phone network, no province, region or city has the ability to enforce it,' the Guangdong Communication Administration wrote.

Tong Chun-yip, a delegate to the Guangdong People's Political Consultative Conference and a former Hong Kong actor, submitted a proposal in March urging authorities to verify customers' identities when they purchased mobile phone SIM cards, because he was deeply troubled by insulting calls and messages from unrecognised numbers.

'I have not been cheated yet, but there are many friends who suffered dearly because of mobile phone fraud,' Mr Tong said. 'Binding a phone number with a real name can effectively reduce such crimes.'

Despite the rejection, the administration said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was co-operating with the Ministry of Public Security to enact a regulation to tackle the issue, and it was waiting for approval from the State Council.

'Once the central government releases the regulation, our administration will work actively with other government agencies on implementation,' it said.

But some industry sources said the regulation had been submitted to the State Council as early as 2006, but Beijing had not shown any interest.

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