An official of the National Telecommunication Commission 11 (NTC 11) reminded the public of the June 27, 2023 deadline for the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card registration.
Failure to register could case SIM deactivation.
“Ang mga Pilipino didto na magtapok sa unang adlaw ug sa katapusang adlaw. So ang NTC nagset ug deadline on June 27, 2023. Although, naa pa’y extension of not more than 120 days according to the IRR, so far karon wala pa tay nakita na reason nganong iextend so i-set nato ang atong hunahuna nga naa na lang tay 170 days para ma rehistro ang atong sim cards or else kung wala ninyo na rehistro by June 28, 2023 deactivated na inyong mga SIM cards,” “director Nelson Cañete of the National Telecommunications Commission-11 (NTC-11) said over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on Thursday.
On December 27 last year, SIM card registration has begun. Cañete shared that on Monday registered SIM cards were close to 12 million and as of January 5, 2023, it rose to 15 million. NTC is targeting to register 180 million SIM cards.
“Kung nagtarget ta ug 180 million taas taas pa ang atong latason. Expected na muubos na ang numero kay humana naman tong opening salvo. Its been 10 days na sukad sa start sa registration or else ma out of this world ka kay ma deactivate ang inyong SIM card na gigamit so dili naka makontak ug dili naka kakontak,” Cañete said.
The first day of the registration was also met with numerous incidents involving glitches and unsuccessful or incomplete SIM registration from the subscribers. Some netizens also posted online their complaints regarding registration sites being down or inaccessible.
“Glitches tanan service providers tungod sa dasok sa tanan na gusto magpa rehistro. Wala to maagapan dayon sa ma texhnical people in fact ang commission namo nag issue ug show cause sa mga service providers nga i-explain nila ngano nahitabo tong mga glitches,” Cañete explained.
Cañete is referring to the NTC’s order to the telecommunications companies to submit incident reports on anomalies regarding their SIM card registration processes.
The NTC reportedly told telcos to file reports on these incidents, including the platform involved, the number of subscribers affected, geographical areas, and actions taken to address these issues.
“On the second day nahimo nang normal hangtod karong orasa medyo malangay langay lang ka ug sulod gamay tungod kay daghan pa ang gusto muapas sa registration. Atong giingnan nga kung dili mo kasulod karon naa pay ugma, sunod adlaw ug take note naa pa tay 170 days,” Cañete added.
The NTC released the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the SIM Card Registration Act on December 12, 2022, which will take effect starting December 27. Subscribers will have 180 days from the effectivity of the law to register their SIM cards. The registration may be extended by up to 120 days.
The law aims to protect consumers from illegal activities such as scams, smishing, and other kinds of mobile phone and online fraud.
