Telcos in Central Visayas welcome 90-day extension of SIM card registration

| Inquirer file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Local executives of two telecommunication companies in the country welcome the announcement from the national government of the 90-day extension for the sim registration deadline.

The sim card registration was originally set on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.

The government on Tuesday, April 25, 2023,  extended the mandatory SIM registration for 90 days. The deadline is now on July 25.

READ: SIM registration deadline extended for 90 days

Rofil Sheldon Magto, Regional Corporate Communications Manager for Vismin of Globe Group, in a news forum on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, said that with the extension of the SIM registration deadline to another 90 days, they will continue with their massive efforts in aiding their subscribers to register their mobile numbers by setting up more registration booths in strategic places.

He said they will focus more on Visayas and Mindanao regions as they have seen that, compared to the national statistics figures, the number of customers in these areas who have yet to register is still high.

“We hope nga makakuha na sila og government IDs before the next deadline and we will make sure nga amo silang adtuan g’yod sa mga different provinces and remote areas,” he said.

Marylou Gocotano, Visayas Relations Head, of PLDT and Smart CorpComms, for her part, said that while they have yet to receive the official order on the SIM card registration, they also welcome the decision of the government.

“Malipayon because in this case, ang atong 40 percent sa atong Smart and TNT subscribers mahatagan pa jud sila og chance ug dugang panahon [to register], especially those valid ang ilang reason [like] difficulty of getting assistance or walay signal sa ilaha or difficulty of getting valid IDs, mahatagan pa jud sila og chance,” she said.

Department of Information and Communication Technology in Central Visayas DICT-7 director Frederick Amores, for his part, said that he has yet to receive formal communication from the DICT central office on the extension of the SIM registration period.

READ MORE: Haven’t registered your SIM yet? DICT-7 can help

The director said he was also surprised that the announcement on the extension came from the Secretary of Justice.

“There may be a context that we do not know why it was announced by the DOJ Secretary. So, I will await the official statement from the DICT, before making further comments on that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Magto said that as of April 24, about 39.9 million or 46 percent of their subscribers have registered their mobile numbers, while Gocotano said 39,949,785 (60.25 percent) of Smart and TNT subscribers have registered their SIM cards.

Earlier, Amores said that in his opinion, there is no need to extend the deadline for SIM card registration because there is a remedy for SIM cards to be reactivated after the deadline.

It was earlier reported that deactivated SIM cards may be restored five days after the supposed to be April 26 deadline.

For now, Magto and Gocotano both assured their subscribers of the multi-billion security measures each of the telco companies have put in place to ensure data protection and privacy.

The SIM Registration Act, aimed at reducing anonymous mobile phone-based scams and other criminal activities, was signed by President Marcos last October 10, 2022.

/bmjo

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