Only 24.54 percent have registered their SIM cards; DICT looking to extend deadline
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is looking to extend the SIM registration's April 26 deadline, as only about a quarter of subscribers have registered so far.
“The DICT is looking at the possibility of an extension,” Lamentillo told reporters on March 9. “The DICT has the prerogative to extend the SIM registration process for another 120 days and we’re still deliberating on the matter."
In the meantime, the agency said it's focused on increasing the number of registrants by April 26.
The National Telecommunications Communication on March 7 reported that only 41.47 million of 169.98 million SIM cards, or 24.54%, in the country have registered their SIMs.
Smart Communications said it has at least 21 million registered SIMs, while Globe and DITO Telecommunity have some 17.2 million and 3.1 million registrants, respectively.
Signed into law last October 2022, the SIM Card Registration Act intends to lessen online scams.
The original bill passed by the 18th Congress was supposed to be signed last April 2022, but former president Rodrigo Duterte vetoed it due to a provision that also required social media registration, in which users must go by their real names. Duterte cited the need for a "more thorough study" amid individual privacy and free speech concerns.