SIM cards registered with PTEs hit 11.219M as of January 2, says NTC

Over 11.219 million SIM cards have been registered as of January 2, 2023 — the sixth day of the effectivity of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the SIM Card Registration Act, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) reported.

Data released by the NTC found that there were 11,219,722 SIM cards registered as of January 2, 2023 — 1,017,012 with DITO Telecommunity Corp., 5,030,649 with Globe Telecom Inc., and 5,172,061 with Smart Communications Inc.

The IRR of the SIM Card Registration Act took effect on December 27, mandating all public telecommunications entities (PTEs) to establish their own registration platform where they will onboard users who present valid identification cards. Users are given 180 days to register their SIM cards, else face the risk of having these deactivated.

The PTEs last week said they are all set for the registration process, but birthing pains are expected during the initial stages. The NTC has since ordered them to report any problems encountered by users during the registration.

During the first day of registration, December 27, Globe made its registration portal temporarily inaccessible to ensure a better experience for its customers, asking the NTC for a maximum of 72 hours to ensure stability.

Smart likewise reported heavy volumes of registrants, while DITO said the registration process was smooth with over 200,000 subscribers successfully registered during the day.

To register their SIM cards, users of DITO Telecommunity Corp. can visit https://dito.ph/registerDITO, Globe Telecom Inc. at https://new.globe.com.ph/simreg, and Smart at https://smart.com.ph/simreg. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News