Gran Alacant and Area Forum

Last minute reprieve :-

Government grants six month grace period in Spain's mobile phone switch off.

It gives users of pre-paid lines the chance to recover their number if they register after the phone has been deactivated

As of midnight on Sunday, all non-registered pre-paid mobile phones become deactivated for all calls, other than those made to the 112 emergency number. The numbers which had not been registered before the deadline were to have disappeared for ever but, in a last minute decision, the government is now giving the users affected by the switch off six months to register their phones and allow them to recover their numbers. El País reports that any remaining credit on the pre-paid cards – an estimated 25 million € for all the phones affected - will also be retained.

The paper notes the Interior Ministry took the decision for the six month grace period after a meeting with representatives of the mobile phone companies on Saturday.

The switch off comes under the Law for the Conservation of Data in Electronic Communications, in force in Spain since October 2007, which obliges the phone companies to keep all data on the destination and origin of calls, as well as the identities of all users involved in the communication. The legislation came about as a result of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, where anonymous pre-paid phones were used to set off the explosives.

Between 3 and 4 million pre-paid lines have yet to be identified, but mobile phone operators in Spain believe only a third of that number are actually in use, generally by pensioners who may only use the number in the case of emergencies.

From typically spanish

hi

i would have thought any orange sales outlet.

take your id with you (nie etc).

there is no charge for registering.

robin...

http://movil.orange.es/informacion_oran ... o_tiendas/

click on alicante region and it will show you the shops