Govt ‘deliberating’ on extension of SIM card registration: DICT

An official of the Department of Information and Communications Technology said they are “deliberating” on a possible extension of the SIM Card Registration Act.

More than two months since the start of SIM registration, the DICT reported that as of March 7 around 41.47 million have been registered, or just 24.54 percent of the over 168.98 million SIMs nationwide.

With just 48 days before the April 26 deadline, DICT Undersecretary Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo said the agency “has the prerogative to extend the SIM Registration process for another 120 days.”

“We are still deliberating on the matter. Now we’re focused on increasing the number of registrants before the April 26 deadline,” Lamentillo said.

DICT said Smart Communications has registered around 21.12 million SIMs, which is 31 percent of its almost 68 million subscribers.

Globe Telecom meanwhile has registered 17.2 million subscribers or 19.6 percent of its almost 87.9 million subscribers.

Meanwhile, DITO Telecommunity reported around 3.15 million SIMs registered or 24 percent of its 13.1 million subscribers. DICT reminded the public to use the telcos’ official registration channels.

SMART – smart.com.ph/simreg or simreg.smart.com.ph GLOBE – new.globe.com.ph/ simreg

DITO – https://digital.dito. ph/pto/download/app

The government hopes the SIM registration will enable law enforcement to combat spam and scam text messages, many of which offer fake jobs or promises of prize money.