MANILA, Philippines— While the SIM Registration Act permits a total of 120 days for possible registration extensions, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said no future increases will be made to the “final” 90-day extension.
“Based on the [Cabinet] discussion po, hindi na po. That will be the final extension po, ‘yung 90-day period po na extension,” asserted NTC Deputy Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan when asked about the possibility of a second extension on the SIM registration period.
Salvahan also reminded the public that unregistered SIM cards will be automatically deactivated once the deadline expires on July 26, 91 days after the original deadline.
“Yes, it is mandated po by law that for those subscribers that failed to register within the deadline, their SIMs will be automatically deactivated,” he clarified.
On July 26, unregistered SIM owners will immediately lose access to call-and-text services and e-wallets among other features.
The DICT previously warned that unregistered SIM card users may gradually lose access to telecommunications services over the three-month extension.
90 days to address gov’t ID, tech literacy obstacles
Salvahan stated that the 90-day extension was implemented to allow all SIM users to address digital literacy and government ID-related concerns with registration.
“By giving them this 90-day period of extension, they will be able to secure those necessary IDs and address all other concerns, like ‘yung they are not really that tech-savvy or literate in registering. So ito po, may chance po sila to address these issues,” he said.
Only 87.4 million or 52% of active SIM users in the country have registered their cards as of April 24, according to the telecommunications deputy commissioner.
The NTC hopes to see 110 million active SIM users registered by the extension period’s end, said Salvahan when asked about the commission’s “realistic” SIM registration target in a Wednesday interview with The Source.
READ: DICT: Low SIM registration turnout not due to lack of gov’t IDs
Salvahan reported spikes in registrant numbers over the last two days, owing to the delay in announcing the 90-day extension.
“Three days ago, it was 2.4 million [new registrants]. Yesterday it was 4.4 million,” he revealed.
Modified incentives
Salvahan also mentioned the possibility of “modified” incentives by the NTC for those who have not yet registered their SIM cards.
“Please do not wait for the deadline, because within the 90 day period po… we might consider some modifications in the effects of the SIM registration. So mas maganda po na ngayon, habang wala pa po ibang mga modifications na yan, or, shall we say, ‘yung tinatawag po na incentives, ay mai-register po ninyo yung SIM po ninyo,” announced Salvahan.
The deputy commissioner did not disclose what these modifications may be.
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