Re: data point - anonymous E.164 number usage

["Conroy, Lawrence (SMTP)" <]

Hi Michael, folks,
  In the UK, there seems to be a move to requiring registration online 
before a Pre-Pay can be "activated".
Note - anonymous purchase, but registered use.

For example, Vodafone have an online registration system that we tried 
to consider in the UK trial as part of a streamlined authentication 
system.

Of course, the number of phones Mickey Mouse must have is large, but 
it's a step away from anonymity (or towards big brother - the choice is 
not yours).

all the best,
  Lawrence

On 26 Feb 2004, at 7:39 pm, Michael Haberler wrote:

>  In the context of validation of numbers for ENUM, I have tried to 
> estimate the amount of mobile users which have totally anonymously 
> bought a prepaid SIM card, or in other words, users of E.164 numbers 
> which have no trace at all in a phonebook or other records.
>
>  In the EU, all countries except Germany, Hungary and Italy permit 
> totally anonymous purchase of prepaid SIM cards. This indicates that 
> about 65% of the EU population have access to anonymous mobile service 
> (even in Italy, just a taxpayer code is needed which is not subscriber 
> data but allows to track down a user for law enforcement - but lets 
> leave that out for the sake of argument; in France I understand a 
> record is made for purposes of recovering a lost SIM card but not for 
> proof of identity).
>
>  There are about 400 Million mobile users in Europe, and penetration 
> of prepaid is about 40%. Assuming that nobody registers if he doesnt 
> have to, and multiplying those figures a ballpark estimate is that 
> there are about 100 Million E.164 numbers in use in Europe without any 
> subscriber data just through the use of prepaid SIM cards.
>
> -Michael