China’s texters to lose anonymity – Ralph Jennings

From Asia Times:

A plan to register millions of prepaid mobile-phone users in China will bring new inconveniences to subscribers, including foreigners, but could offer opportunities for foreign-invested telecommunication companies, industry experts say.

The Ministry of Information Industry is working on a way to register an estimated 200 million mobile-phone users who pay in advance for services such as China Mobile’s Shenzhou or GoTone accounts, said Zhao Zhiguo, deputy director of the ministry’s telecommunications administration.