142 million SIM cards still not registered

MANILA, Philippines — Three months before the deadline set under the Subscriber Identity Module or SIM Card Registration Act, only 16 percent of all mobile numbers have been registered.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said only 26.64 million or 16 percent of the 168.98 million SIM cards nationwide had been registered as of Jan. 28.

Smart Communications Inc. has registered 20 percent or 13.63 million of its subscriber base of 68 million.

Dito Telecommunity Corp. and Globe Telecom Inc. have signed up 16 percent and 12 percent, respectively, of their user bases.

If this pace is sustained, the NTC said only about 60 percent could be registered until the deadline on April 26.

Under Republic Act (RA) 11934, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) may opt to extend SIM registration by 120 days.

However, the DICT and NTC hope that telecommunication providers can enlist all their customers within the deadline.

Globe announced yesterday that it would launch SIM registration through the GlobeOne app in February to increase the number of channels that its customers can access.

“We are committed to meeting the deadline and continuing our efforts to protect our customers from scammers and fraudsters,” Globe head of consumer mobile business Darius Delgado said.

Smart chief information security officer Angel Redoble said the mobile firm tightened its cybersecurity measures to protect the data privacy of its SIM registrants.

“Our cybersecurity culture has led us to implement the toughest cyber defenses when it comes to data privacy and protection. Our goal has always been zero breach,” Redoble said.

“We assure our customers that we follow a legal procedure when there’s a valid request for information,” he added.

Under the implementing rules and regulations of RA 11934, subscribers should register their SIM cards within 180 days from the date of the effectivity of the law.