HCMC – Around 1.2 million mobile phone numbers blocked from making calls, sending text messages or use the Internet since March 31 will be deactivated if their data is not updated within four days.

An additional 394,000 phone users updated their information and got their phone numbers verified from April 1 to April 10, Nguyen Phong Nha, deputy director of the Vietnam Telecommunications Authority, said yesterday, April 11.

They are among the 1.67 million phone numbers blocked from making calls and texting since the end of last month as their user data stored by telecom providers does not match the national population database.

Phone numbers with one-way blockage cannot make calls, send text messages, or access mobile internet, but phone users can still call the hotline for support or connect to Wi-Fi and log into their apps to update information.

If the information is not updated by April 15, these phone numbers will be deactivated.

Until May 15, anyone who fails to update their information will have their contracts terminated and numbers reclaimed.

Representatives of some telecom carriers said that verifying phone users’ information encountered some challenges as many users in remote areas find it difficult to access the notification about the blockage and are unfamiliar with using phones.

“Among the 400,000 partially blocked phone numbers, about 20% of the users live in remote areas,” a representative of Viettel said.

Meanwhile, some users mistake the telecom carrier’s notification for spam messages and ignore them. Many of the blocked phone numbers may not be frequently used or are only used for internet access, so users may not intend to update their information.