Activated doesn't mean working: getting a phone line in Mexico in 2026

Context

In 2026, Mexico required every mobile line to be linked to a national ID (CURP), with deadlines staggered by the last digit of the number. Bait, Walmart’s mobile carrier, had 27.6 million users. Many of them use budget phones, limited data and a single device for everything. That’s who this flow has to work for.

How I researched it

Walkthrough: bought an eSIM and went through the email, activation, the app and the website on a phone, a laptop and a wide screen.
Netnography: coded 55 public comments by theme (a Facebook community, App Store and Google Play reviews, mostly Aug–Nov 2026) until no new themes appeared.
Heuristic and accessibility review against WCAG 2.2.
Limits: no interviews and no internal data. Reviews skew negative and don’t represent every user. The findings are hypotheses to validate, not verdicts.

Theme in public comments	Comments
The app hides the basics (balance, usage, login)	12
Seams: paid or completed, but not working	8
Support: slow, bots, no human	7
Trust and security	5
Unclear plan conditions	5
App crashes	4
Old phones locked out	3
Network coverage	3
Other, positive, invasive sales	8

What I found

One message for everyone. The activation email asks you to scan a QR code with the same phone you’re reading it on; a button that installs the eSIM with one tap sits at the bottom, under an unrelated heading. The app asks everyone to register their line, including people who already did. In 6 of 55 comments, that banner hides the login.
People fall through the seams. In 8 of 55 comments, someone paid for or completed something that didn’t work: a port marked “completed” with no service, an eSIM charged but never delivered, data the app says you have while a notification says you don’t.
The basics are hidden. Balance and expiry date aren’t on the app’s first screen. On the web there’s no “My account”: opened directly, it redirects to the app; found through Google, it lands on a sales page for new customers.
Plan conditions aren’t clear. “Unlimited” is printed large, the 15 GB high-speed cap small. Included social apps appear only as logos.
Trust is fragile. People fear number theft during porting. The registration link is a shortened URL, the kind anti-fraud advice says not to open, and the activation email doesn’t warn that its code is personal.
Accessibility gaps. Prices, legal terms and the registration link are images: screen readers can’t read them and they don’t scale. Carousel dots are smaller than 24 px and floating buttons cover “Buy”. On a wide screen the banner takes 44% of the first view, and around 70% projected on a 21:9 monitor.

Design principles

Know the situation. Show each person the step that applies to them.
Essentials first, promotions last. Status, balance and the next action come before any ad.
Say what’s true. If speed is reduced or a port is in progress, say so in plain words.
Same structure, same words. Every plan answers the same questions in the same order.
Accessible as drawn. Real text, real buttons, 44 px targets and 4.5:1 contrast from the first sketch.

What I designed

Brand, numbers and dates are placeholders. Brackets mark data still to confirm.

Redesigned activation email: install buttons first, QR code as an alternative, registration as step 2 — **Activation email.** It asks where you're reading it: one-tap install first, the QR as plan B, a warning that the code is personal, and registration as a clear step 2 that explains why a selfie is needed.

App home with a registration notice showing the person's deadline, followed by their plan and balance — **App home, registration pending.** One notice with the person's real deadline by last digit and the days left. Then plan, balance and actions. Promotions go last.

App home with a small registered confirmation and a message saying high-speed data ran out — **App home, line registered.** A small confirmation you can hide, and honest status when high-speed data runs out.

Plans screen with a comparison table and plan cards that share one structure — **Plans.** A comparison table (price, high-speed GB, days, cost per day) and cards with one structure and one verb.

Website home with My account in the header, a registration deadline checker, two entry points and a plan comparison table — **Web home.** "My account" always visible; two doors, "I have a line" and "I want a line"; one registration notice with a deadline checker; a banner capped at 280 px with live text and pause controls.

Ad landing page with a link to My account, the porting process in four steps and a safety note — **Ad landing page.** A way back to your account, the port explained in 4 steps with times, a note against number-theft scams, and "Do I need the app? No."

The same website home at 2560 pixels wide, with content kept to a 1200 pixel column — **The same home at 2560 px.** Content stays at 1200 px, so promotions no longer push plans and the account out of view.

Accessibility, built in

All text is live HTML: prices, conditions, links and promotions.
Touch targets of 44 px or more; a carousel with pause, previous and next buttons.
Text contrast of 4.5:1 or higher, left-aligned, never justified.
Labeled inputs, named icons, real buttons and links.
Social apps listed by name, not only logos.
Everything works in the browser; the app is optional.

Research I’d run next, inside the team

Segment by situation, not demographics: new, activating, registration pending, porting, existing customer.
Funnel analytics: how many existing customers land on the sales page, and where registration is abandoned.
Support contact reasons, coded monthly alongside app reviews.
Usability tests in real conditions: budget phones, slow data, older adults, with tasks like “check your balance”.
Card sorting and tree testing for navigation labels.
In-store observation with the staff who help people activate.
A diary study of porting, which takes days.
An accessibility audit with screen readers, 200% zoom, and small and wide screens.

How I’d measure it

Share of existing customers who reach their account from search.
Registration completion rate, by deadline group.
Support contacts about balance, login and “registered but no service”.
Time from purchase to a working line, including SMS.
Monthly count of review themes: the netnography as an ongoing practice.

What I learned

Bad UX didn’t stop Bait from growing; price and distribution did the work. But as growth slows and acquiring customers gets more expensive, every person lost in a seam costs more to replace. That’s when experience starts to be worth money. As an anthropologist, what stood out most was the community: people solve each other’s problems in groups because the system doesn’t. That support work is real, and it’s a map of where the product fails.

Independent concept based on public information and my own research, with paraphrased comments and no personal data. Not affiliated with Bait or Walmart.