(INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines – Almost 500 complaints have been received so far by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) about the SIM card registration process.
DICT Undersecretary Anna Mae Lamentillo, in a Laging Handa public briefing on Thursday, said 481 complaints had been raised before the department.
“We’ve received a total of 481 complaints – 195 from Smart, 121 from Globe, 83 from Talk ‘N Text, 41 from Dito, 20 from TM, 14 from Sun Cellular and 7 from Gomo,” she said in English and Filipino.
The complaints, according to Lamentillo, were usually about difficulties in completing the registration process and accessing the telecommunication companies (telcos) registration portals.
“Some were senior citizens who found it difficult to accomplish the registration process, so we’ve asked someone to assist them. Others had trouble getting into the system, but we’re asking the public to be a little bit patient with us since we have a 15-day test period,” she added.
Lamentillo also reiterated that “birthing pains” or challenges in implementing the law are expected as the process is still in its “trial period.”
Jon Paulo Salvahan, Deputy Commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), pointed out that telecommunications firms had their fair share of problems encountered during the first few days of the SIM registration period.
“The usual concern the telcos encounter is the influx of [registrants] or heavy registration traffic. That’s why their systems either slowed down or shut down,” he said.
This, Salvahan noted, is being resolved by telecommunications firms by increasing the capacity of their systems to accommodate the high number of registrants accessing their websites.
According to NTC, there are more than 3.3 million registered subscribers as of Dec. 28 – Dito Telcommunity with 530,424, 1,769,374 with Globe Telecom Inc., and 1,019,207 with Smart Communications Inc.
“The 180-day period, based on the rate of our registration, which will improve on the later days, will be sufficient,” Salvahan said, noting that if this falls short, the deadline may be extended for another 120 days.
He said that the NTC has started coordinating with other government offices, including the Public Information Agency, to boost the information dissemination campaign for SIM registration in the country.
The DICT’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center recently created a 24/7 SIM registration complaint center (hotline 1326).
According to the NTC, registration assistance services will also be made available in retail and service outlets of telecommunications firms.
Mobile subscribers can register their existing prepaid and postpaid SIM cards until April 26, 2023, to avoid deactivation.
SIM cards purchased on April 27 onward are deactivated by default and can only be activated through registration.