INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Nearly 114 million SIM (subscriber identity module) cards were registered after the seven-month mandatory listup officially concluded, surpassing the target set by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
As of July 30, data from the National Telecommunications (Commission) showed that 113.97 million or 67.83 percent of the 168 million SIM cards were listed within the deadline and grace period.
This was beyond the 100 million to 110 million SIM cards the government was eyeing to register.
Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy said they were targeting to register all revenue-generating SIM cards or those actively being used for calls, texts and other mobile usage.
The bulk of the registrants were subscribers of Globe Telecom with 53.73 million, followed by Smart Telecommunications with 52.5 million and DITO Telecommunity with 7.74 million.
The last day for registration was July 25, but a five-day grace period thereafter—or until July 30—was provided, as per the law, to allow others to catch up.
On the final day of registration, Uy told reporters that he was “very satisfied” with the results as the DICT was able to hit the target “very well.”
Following the grace period, all unregistered SIM cards are now permanently deactivated, which means users cannot use them for sending messages and making phone calls, among others.
Uy previously said the government saw a surge in registration in the two days leading to the last day for compliance.
The mandatory listup began on Dec. 27, 2022. The first week of registration was marred with technical glitches, such as online portals being down due to heavy traffic of users, prompting telco players to augment capacity.
The registration of SIM cards was supposed to end by April 26, as mandated by law, but the government opted to extend the deadline by 90 days as only around half of the SIM cards were registered at the time. According to the law, the DICT is allowed to have a 120-day extension if needed.