CONTROL MECHANISM | The SIM registration process starts at the point of sale, meaning no card will be sold to an individual who refuses to provide personal information. (Photo by RICHARD A. REYES / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Another extension for SIM card registration seems unlikely after the July 25, 2023 deadline.
Engr. Felipe Gumalo Jr., officer-in-charge of the Enforcement and Operation Division of the National Telecommunications Commission in Central Visayas (NTC-7), in a news forum on Tuesday, July 25, said that there is still no announcement from their central office on the sim card registration extension.
In previous interviews with Manila reporters, Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy said July 25 was already a “hard deadline” and no further extension would be given. He noted that the registration rate was already within their target.
As of 11:59 p.m. of Sunday, July 23, 2023, about 62.65 percent of the total number of subscribers as of December 2022 have already registered their SIM.
This translates to 105,260,340 registered sims out of the 168,016,400 subscribers as of December 2022.
Of the number, 55.36 percent (48,019,084) are from GLOBE; 50.12 percent or (7,500,828) are from DITO, and 75.02 percent or (49,740,428) are from SMART.
Marylou Gocotano, the PLDT and Smart CorpComms’ Visayas Relations Head said that about 65.9 percent of their subscribers were able to register their sim cards as of April 26, 2023, the first scheduled deadline for registration.
The number increased by six million, increasing the network’s sim registration rate to 75.02 percent after the deadline extension.
“More or less, ni peak gihapon siya but dili siya ingon ana kadako. So, we have an increase of about 6 million registrations. Based sa trend, wala jud siya ni congest ba. So, mostly people were already able to register g’yud during the first (deadline) unya gitagaan pa g’yud nato og taas-taas na chance. That’s 120 days gani. That’s why we were able to gather mga 6 million more subscribers nga nag-paregister,” she said.
Meanwhile, Patrick Gloria, Globe Groups’ Vice President for External Affairs, said they notice a flattening in the trend of sim registration for their network right after the announcement of the deadline; however, it started to peak again a week after the announcement.
“We had our own interventions as well. We still continued to talk to the press. We still went out and talked to the LGUs and informed them about it…When we did that, it really spiked, like a million a day,” he added.
According to the two officials, sim card registration was particularly challenging for the elderly and those using legacy phones, as the registration process has measures that could only be done using smartphones.
“So, kani siya isa pa ni siya sa mga gitabangan pajud karon.
A week ago, nagsuyod na gyud mi, we have people on ground nga niadto na gyud, house to house, kabarangayan, merkado, skwelahan to check and ask if they need pa assistance on sim registration.” Gocotano said.
The Telcos urged subscribers to make use of the remaining time and the registration assistance provided by the telcos and their local government units, before the deadline.
Based on the Implementing Rules and Regulation of the SIM Registration Law, SIM card owners are still given a five-day grace period should they want to reactivate them. /rcg
RELATED STORIES:
SIM card registration: A step-by-step guide
Haven’t registered your SIM card yet? Here’s how