DENEB: Number Portability Lookup for Mexico
Know which operator serves any Mexican number today, even if it has switched carriers. Look it up instantly over an API, one number at a time or up to 1,000 in a single request, updated every day with Mexico’s official portability data.
DENEB: Number Portability Lookup for Mexico
DENEB is Gazeti Telecomm’s number portability lookup service for Mexico. Since number portability arrived, people can switch carriers and keep their number, so the prefix no longer tells you which operator a number belongs to. DENEB solves that: ask about any Mexican number and it tells you which operator serves it today and whether it is fixed or mobile. The data is updated every day from Mexico’s official portability files. The service is already in production with paying customers.
| Coverage | Mexico: more than 80 million ported numbers and 65 million numbering blocks |
| Single API lookups | One number at a time, with the answer on the spot |
| Bulk API lookups | Up to 1,000 numbers in a single request, with the answers in the same order you sent them |
| Updates | Daily, from the official portability files. Every answer carries the date of its data, and a status endpoint shows how current each dataset is |
| What you get back | The current operator (its official 3-digit code and, when available, its registered name), whether the line is fixed or mobile, where the answer came from and the date of the data |
| Countries | Mexico today. The platform is built to add more countries |
The problem: the prefix no longer tells you who owns the number
In Mexico, millions of people have switched carriers and kept their number. A number that started with one operator may have been with another for years. If you route SMS or bill calls by prefix, part of that traffic takes the wrong route or is billed incorrectly, and nobody warns you. The correct information exists: the ABD, the body that manages Mexico’s portability database, publishes it every day. But it publishes it as files, not as a lookup service. DENEB takes those files and gives you the answer on the spot.
How it works
When you look up a number, DENEB always follows the same order. First it checks whether the number has switched carriers; if so, it returns the current operator. If it never switched, it returns the operator the number was originally assigned to. And if the number is not assigned to anyone in Mexico, it tells you so clearly. Every answer includes the operator code and, when available, its registered name, whether the line is fixed or mobile, which of the two cases applied and the date of the data.
What DENEB does not do
We would rather say it up front. The official three-digit operator code is the reference value: the API also returns the operator’s registered name when the ABD publishes it, but it can be empty, so identify operators by code. DENEB is a lookup service: it does not deliver files or copies of the portability database. DENEB tells you which company bills the number, not which physical network carries the call. It answers today’s state, with no history of who held a number before. In rare cases (around 0.03% of numbers) the line type is unknown, and DENEB says so instead of assuming. And if you look up a number from a country we do not cover yet, it rejects it instead of giving you an approximate answer. A data service is only as reliable as its worst answer, so DENEB never guesses.
Why with Gazeti
Official data, always current
The data comes straight from Mexico’s official portability files and is updated every day. It is not a third-party database or an old copy.
Ask once, get the full answer
You only ask about the number. DENEB first checks whether it has switched carriers and, if not, which operator it was originally assigned to. The answer tells you which of the two applied.
One by one or in bulk
Look up a single number in real time, or validate whole lists with bulk lookups of up to 1,000 numbers per request. Both modes use the same API and give you exactly the same data.
From official data to your platform
Every day DENEB is updated with Mexico’s official portability data to answer your API lookups, one number at a time or in batches of up to 1,000.
One lookup, one complete answer
This is what a real DENEB lookup looks like: you ask about the number and get back the current operator, the line type and where the answer came from. Example with fictitious numbers and the real API structure.
Animated demo of the DENEB API. First lookup: GET /v1/lookup/5512345678 returns 200 OK with ported true, mobile type, operator 188 TELCEL and regulator authority, current as of today. Second lookup: GET /v1/lookup/5587654321 returns ported false, fixed type, operator 118 PEGASO PCS (TELEFONICA MOVISTAR) and numbering plan authority: the number was never ported and the operator is the one its block was assigned to. Fictitious numbers, real structure.
Ported numbers and original numbering
To know who a number belongs to, two things need checking: whether it has switched carriers and, if not, which operator it was originally assigned to. DENEB checks both in the right order, so you never need to know in advance which one applies.
| Ported numbers | Original numbering | |
|---|---|---|
| What it answers | Which operator the number moved to | Which operator the number was originally assigned to |
| What it contains | Every number that has switched carriers | Ranges of numbers assigned to each operator |
| When it applies | If the number has switched carriers | If the number has never switched |
| Size in Mexico | More than 80 million numbers | More than 65 million blocks |
| Priority | Always checked first | Used only if the number has not switched |
| Shown in the answer as | portability | numbering |
Frequently asked questions
What is DENEB?
DENEB is Gazeti Telecomm’s number portability lookup service for Mexico. Ask about any Mexican number and it tells you which operator serves it today and whether it is fixed or mobile, even if the number has switched carriers. The data is updated every day from Mexico’s official portability files. You look numbers up instantly over an API, one at a time or up to 1,000 in a single request. It is already in production with paying customers.
Why do I need portability lookups to send SMS or bill calls in Mexico?
Because a number’s prefix no longer tells you which operator it belongs to: millions of people have switched carriers without changing their number. If you route or bill by prefix, part of your traffic takes the wrong route or is billed incorrectly. DENEB checks each number against more than 80 million ported numbers and 65 million numbering blocks, updated daily.
Can I look up many numbers at once?
Yes. Besides single lookups, the API accepts bulk lookups of up to 1,000 numbers in a single request and returns the answers in the same order you sent them, with nothing to set up on your side. DENEB is offered only as an API lookup service: it does not deliver files or copies of the portability database.
Shall we quote it for your operation?
We design the solution to fit your topology and volume. A carrier engineer gets back to you.