From the beginning of 2017, a massive black-out has concerned several phone lines, as announced by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and IT. This is happening to all those phone lines activated on the basis of a false and misleading identification. A survey of 2015 has shown that many people - a part from the cases of homonymous names - were holders of several mobile numbers.

It was due, for instance, to the loss of identity cards and the related abusive use by third parties, as well as to the carelessness of telephone companies in identifying the applicants for a phone line. Whether or not, the Chinese Governement does not mind about that, providing for the disconnection of mobile phone users who have not registerd with their real name.

For the future, all the selling departments of telephone companies shall be equipped with identity cards readers to be linked to a specific software for data recording.

At the moment all those whose telephone line has been disconnected must contact their phone company and, upon exhibition of their identity card, ask for the re-activitation of the line.