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More than 5 million Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards were registered as of Dec. 29, a senior official of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said on Thursday.
Deputy Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan said reports submitted to the NTC by the telecommunications companies show that, as of Dec. 29, DITO reported 742,653 registered SIMs, Smart with 1.8 million and Globe with 2.7 million.The 180-day SIM registration started last Dec. 27, following the issuance of the implementing rules of Republic Act No. 11934 or the SIM Registration Act.
Salvahan said that with an estimated 160 million to 180 million active SIMs, the 180-day period would be enough, although he added that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is allowed by the law to extend the deadline by up to 120 more days.
Undersecretary Anna Mae Lamentillo, spokesperson for the DICT, another guest at the briefing, said registrants may continue to experience difficulties in the first 15 days, which will be the “test period” of registration.
The NTC is closely monitoring the telecommunication companies’ SIM card registration following the numerous reports of technical difficulties preventing users from completing the process.
“The glitches and technical difficulties experienced by those who registered were part of what we call birth pains because the [registration] process is new,” she said, adding that the process is expected to improve afterwards.
Work in progress
Salvahan, for his part, thanked the early registrants who encountered but understood the “slight aberrations” in the first two days, adding, “There is nothing to worry about, the data and information you submitted to the telcos are secured, and our [registration] system is being improved daily.”
He said the increase in the number of registrants in the second day could mean that there was a “big improvement” in the process.
Salvahan said the commission issued a memorandum on Wednesday requiring the telcos to submit a daily report to the NTC on the status of their registration for the next seven days.
Lamentillo said the DICT has also set up 24/7 complaint centers under its Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center to serve as support system and platform where subscribers can report their concerns and give suggestions to improve the process.
She said SIM registration concerns can be relayed to the DICT hotline 1326. The hotline has so far received 481 complaints, with 195 concerning Smart, 121 for Globe, 83 for Talk and Text, 41 for DITO, 20 for TM, 14 for Sun Cellular and 7 for Gomo.Lamentillo said some of the complainants were senior citizens and the DICT asked personnel to help them. Others complained about difficulties in accessing the registrations system, she said.
Salvahan urged subscribers to register their SIMs early and not wait for the deadline to approach.
“So if our subscribers can register earlier, that’s better so that we can sooner achieve the good purpose of this law,” he said.
The commission previously said it had “received information of numerous incidents involving unsuccessful or incomplete SIM registration from the general public.”
Initial hiccups
Apart from portals being down, subscribers complained about their failure to secure one-time PINs (personal identification number) and system errors during the registration.
The telcos, however, made adjustments on their registration platforms, enabling subscribers to have better experience on the second day of the mandatory enlistment.
Existing mobile subscribers have until April 26, 2023, to comply or their SIM card will be deactivated.
Failure or refusal to register SIM cards may be fined from P100,000 to P1,000,000 depending on the number of offenses.
The SIM card registration measure was enacted in a bid to curb the proliferation of text scams, which had been on the rise during the pandemic as hackers take advantage of increased digital adoption. INQ
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