Were you able to register your SIM?
The government will begin deactivating unregistered mobile numbers on July 26, 2023.
Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy asserted that subscribers had enough time to register their SIMs.
“No extension because July 25 is a hard deadline. Those who have yet to register by 12:01 a.m. of July 26 will no longer be able to access connectivity services,” Secretary Ivan John Uy warned.
Subscribers who miss the deadline will lose access to mobile services like calls, data, and texts. Still, they can reactivate their SIM within five days through registration.
Secretary Uy stated, “Based on the data of some of the telcos, they have registered 99 percent of their revenue-generating base, meaning subscribers who actively buy a load or pay for a postpaid plan.”
He also mentioned that unregistered numbers likely belong to one-time users such as scammers and telemarketers. “We are already there, and those who have yet to register are either hardheaded people or really involved in scams,” he added.
Republic Act 11934, or the SIM Registration Act, mandates all consumers to register their SIMs to combat digital fraud, particularly messaging scams. The initial deadline for SIM registration was April 26. It was moved to July 25 due to appeals from the telco industry, to accommodate subscribers in areas with weak or no cellular signal.
Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. believe consumers were given ample time to register their SIMs. Globe even made SIM registration available through the e-wallet application GCash to simplify the process.
Based on records, telco operators have covered 62 percent (104.33 million) of the 168 million SIMs nationwide. Smart leads the tally, registering 74 percent of its subscriber base. In comparison, Globe and Dito Telecommunity Corp. reported 55 percent and 50 percent of their subscriber bases, respectively.
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