NTC says 180-day period enough for users to register SIM cards

The 180-day period for SIM card users to register with telecommunications firms is seen to be enough based on the current onboarding status, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said Thursday.

According to NTC Deputy Commissioner Atty. Jon Paulo Salvahan, the latest reports of public telecommunications entities (PTE) indicate that the 160 million to 180 million active SIM card users can be registered within the prescribed period.

“‘Yung period po ng 180 days, based po sa rate ng registration natin which will improve on the later days, magiging sapat ‘yung 180 days,” he said during the televised public briefing.

(Based on the rate of registration, which will improve on the later days, 180 days will be enough.]

He was referring to the 180-day period given for SIM card users to register with PTEs as mandated by the SIM Card Registration Act, else face the risk of having their SIMs deactivated.

Data released by the NTC showed that there were over 3 million SIM cards registered as of December 28, 2022 — 530,424 with DITO Telecommunity Corp.; 1,769,374 with Globe Telecom Inc.; and 1,019,207 with Smart Communications Inc.

Salvahan attributed issues experienced by some subscribers on the first day to the influx of users on the registration portals of the PTEs, which have said to be addressed.

“Ang ginawa pong solusyon ng ating mga telcos diyan ay inincrease po nila ‘yung system capacity nila para po mas maraming registering subscribers ang makapasok po sa system nila,” he said.

[The solution made by telcos is to increase their system capacity to accommodate more registering subscribers.]

To register their SIM cards, 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.

Salvahan, however, said the agency, along with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), is closely monitoring the registration process and could extend this for another 180 days if needed.

“Sa atin pong paunang pakikipagtulungan or pakikipagugnayan sa DICT, they are minded naman po if necessary, they are willing to extend po the period of 180 days,” he said.

“Kung makakapagrehistro po ng mas maaga ang mga subscribers natin, mas mainam po ‘yan para mas maaga po nating ma-achieve ang purpose ng batas na ito,” he added.

(In our initial cooperation or coordination with DICT, they said that if necessary, they are willing to extend the period of 180 days. It would be better if subscribers can register earlier to achieve the purpose of the law sooner.) —KBK, GMA Integrated News