DICT launches 24/7 SIM registration complaint center

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Tuesday launched a 24/7 complaint center for SIM registration-related concerns and issues.

In a statement, the DICT said the complaint center for the SIM Registration will be under the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), an attached agency of the department.

Concerns related to the SIM registration can be directed to the complaint center through hotline 1326.

DICT spokesperson and Undersecretary Anna Mae Lamentillo said the first two weeks of the implementation of the SIM registration is considered as a test period, wherein some glitches or technical issues are expected as the public telecommunications entities (PTE) fine tune their respective processes.

“The first 15 days starting December 27 is a test period. This means that registrations during this period are all valid, but we are already anticipating that there could be some difficulties because this process is new to both the subscribers and the PTEs. During this 15-day test period, the PTEs will be able to assess what they need to improve on to make the registration process more efficient and easier for subscribers,” said Lamentillo.

She said that the 24/7 complaint center will serve as a support system for the implementation of the SIM registration as this will provide a platform where SIM subscribers can report their concerns or provide suggestions on how the process can be improved.

“DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy wants the SIM registration to be done as soon as possible within 180 days, and he wants to ensure that the process will be as seamless as possible. That is why we launched a 24/7 complaint center so that concerns can be reported immediately and acted upon promptly,” said Lamentillo.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, DICT CICC Undersecretary Alexander Ramos said the agency currently has “30 people on board (the 24/7 hotline) and we are increasing.”

Ramos said the DICT is also aware that unscrupulous individuals will take advantage of the SIM registration.

The DICT official advised the public that the telcos will not call them regarding the SIM registration.

“The first contact should come from them,” he said.

For registration concerns, 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.

Major telecommunications firms said they are fully prepared for the implementation of the SIM Registration Act, but expect birthing pains in the initial stages.

Problems

Meanwhile, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said on Tuesday that telco subscribers encountered some problems on the first day of mandatory sim registration.

Interviewed on GTV’s Balitanghali, NTC Deputy Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan said the Commission monitored the situation as telcos opened the sim registration as early as 4 a.m.

“Siguro nga po sa bugso ng gustong magparehistro ay nagkakaroon po ng problema yung mga systems nila (Perhaps due to the influx of registrants, telcos had a problem with their systems),” he said.

Salvahan said public telecommunications entities (PTEs) asked the public in advance for understanding as they may experience birth pangs like glitches during the first day of registration.

According to Salvahan, the NTC already issued a memorandum to PTEs to address these issues and concerns about their sim registration systems.

If the 180 days dedicated for sim registration are not enough, he said it can be extended another 120 days depending on the discretion of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

According to a report on Balitanghali, some subscribers were having a hard time accessing the registration websites or portals of the telcos.

Globe Group's sustainability and corporate communications chief Yoly Crisanto said they were fixing their website to include an additional requirement for registration, which is a selfie. The system eventually went back on track.

Salvahan said requiring a selfie is a way for the telco to verify the identity of the subscribers.

PLDT-Smart First Vice President and Group Head for Corporate Communications Cathy Yang said they have yet to receive a report on glitches.

However, Smart Communications Inc. said subscribers may experience difficulty in accessing the sim registration site because of the high volume of registrants.

“Our technical team is working in increasing capacity,” it said.

Dito Telecommunity has yet to state whether they also experienced issues on the first day of sim registration.

According to a report by James Agustin on Balitanghali, some subscribers are still waiting for a go signal from their telco for registration.

While subscribers expressed support for sim registration, some of them hoped that their information would not be used for other purposes aside from security and protection from scams. — Joviland Rita/AOL/RSJ/DVM, GMA Integrated News