Identity verification for telecom

What telecom operators ask of identity checks

A mobile line is an identity in its own right: it receives one-time codes, it recovers accounts, and it can be abused when it is cheap to get. An operator therefore has a task that bank-style onboarding does not have: to tie each activation to a verified person, often with no shop counter in the way.

• Verify the subscriber at activation, online or at a retail point.
• Collect name, date of birth and address as part of the same flow.
• Find one face behind many activations.
• Run the platform where the operator needs it.

The flow

1. Start. The operator creates a session when the customer orders a SIM or eSIM. A customer in a shop or on a desktop can continue on a phone with a QR code, or by a one-time link.
2. Questionnaire. The customer enters name, birth date, contacts and the custom fields the operator needs before the KYC starts.
3. Document. The customer photographs a passport, national ID card, driver's licence or residence permit. The document is read and checked for fraud.
4. Selfie and active liveness. The selfie is matched to the document portrait, and the customer moves the face through two ovals.
5. Bulk activation check. Repeat-user search looks for the same face among earlier verified users, and the operator's own person lists and blocklists are checked in the same flow.
6. Activation. The operator's activation system reads the session status or receives a webhook, and its own rule decides whether the line is activated.

Modules used

• Document verification, face verification and liveness.
• Web SDK and widget: QR hand-off, one-time links and 29 interface languages.
• Repeat-user search and blocklists, described on the face verification page. A returning user is compared with a stored reference face.
• REST API and webhooks.
• Deployment: in the cloud, or installed on your own servers by our engineers.

Regulatory frame

Rules for subscriber identity differ widely by country. This block shows one example from a primary source: the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which sets identity check rules for prepaid mobile services in Australia.

• The Authority states that telcos must get certain information about the customer, such as name, address and date of birth, and check the customer's ID when the customer activates a prepaid mobile service.
• It states that the telco looks at the customer's documents, or uses a government service such as the Document Verification Service to check the ID.
• It adds that the telco may also verify by using an existing post-paid or prepaid account, or by a financial transaction made at the time or later.
• Where a mobile number is ported to a prepaid service, the new telco must also comply with the Telecommunications (Mobile Number Pre-Porting Additional Identity Verification) Industry Standard 2020, which has additional identity verification steps.
• On 23 December 2025 the Authority announced an amendment of the identity check rules for prepaid mobile services that allows telcos to conduct ID checks using Digital ID verification services.

This block describes the texts, not our service. For information; not legal advice.

Sources

• Australian Communications and Media Authority, ID checks for prepaid mobiles, regulator page, fetched 27 October 2026.
• Australian Communications and Media Authority, ACMA strengthens consumer protections with Digital ID verification, 23 December 2025, announcement, fetched 27 October 2026.

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