SIM registration at 28 million as of Feb. 5, DICT Sec. Uy says

Some 28 million Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards have been registered as of Sunday, February 5, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy said.

"So far, as of today, may 28 million nang nakarehistro (there are 28 million [SIM cards] already registered," Uy said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

Uy said some 150 million SIM cards were issued by telecommunications companies. However, there are buyers of prepaid SIM cards, such as scammers, who used such cards only once and threw them away afterwards, he added.

"Hindi natin currently alam kung ilan sa 150 million [SIM cards] ang ganu'ng klase. More or less 120 million SIM cards ang matitira na kailangang marehistro," he said.

(We currently do not know how many SIM cards out of the 150 million were thrown away after being used once. More or less 120 million SIM cards would be left that would have to be registered.)

The IRR 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.

The law mandates all public telecommunications entities (PTEs) to establish their registration platforms where they will onboard users who present valid identification cards. Users are given 180 days to register their SIM cards, or else face the risk of having these deactivated.

Uy reminded the public that there is no limit to the number of SIM cards a subscriber can register, as it is possible that an individual has more than one SIM card and cellphone. —KG, GMA Integrated News