DICT says over 34M SIM already registered with telcos

Over 34 million SIM across the country have been registered with their respective public telecommunications entities (PTEs) as of Sunday, February 19, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) reported Tuesday.

According to DICT Undersecretary Anna Mae Lamentillo, a total of 34,483,563 SIM were registered as of February 19, only 20% of the 168,977,773 SIM across the country.

This includes 17.7 million subscribers of Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom Inc. with 14.172 million, and DITO Telecommunity Corp. with 2.61 million.

“Patuloy ang paghihikayat natin sa lahat ng gumagamit ng SIM at eSIM na magparehistro na po kayo. Wala pong exempted sa SIM Registration Law,” she said during the public briefing.

“Pagkatapos ng implementation period at hindi nairegister ang inyong SIM card, hindi ninyo na po magagamit ang inyong SIM,” she added.

(We continue to encourage all SIM and eSIM users to register. No one is exempted from the SIM Registration Law. Once the implementation period lapses and your SIM cards are not registered, these can no longer be used.)

The DICT on Monday said it plans to boost its efforts in encouraging more users to register their SIM cards, following the slowdown recorded halfway into the implementation of the prescribed registration period.

“Ang aming information campaign ay walang tigil at ngayon ay nasa grassroots na (Our information campaign is non-stop and is now on the grassroots level),” Lamentillo said.

Under the SIM Card Registration Act, all public telecommunication entities (PTEs) are mandated to establish their respective registration platforms to onboard users who present valid identification cards.

Users are given 180 days or until April 26, 2023 to register their SIM cards, else face the risk of having these deactivated.

The implementing rules and regulations of the SIM Card Registration Act took effect on December 27, after the measure was signed into law by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. last October.—AOL, GMA Integrated News