DICT denies telcos’ call for SIM reg extension

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Wednesday reiterated that “there is no extension of SIM registration.”

Both telco companies Smart and Globe have previously called for an extension of SIM Registration deadline in which the department has acknowledged but insisted to ultimately stick with the April 26 deadline.

This is despite a clause in the implementing rules and regulations of the SIM Registration Act (otherwise known as Republic Act No. 11934) that all existing SIM subscribers need to register within 180 days from the effectivity of the act and may be extended for a period not exceeding 120 days.

Which means that the DICT has the authority to extend the deadline if it deems necessary.

As of April 14, DICT’s data indicated that 69,828,115 SIM cards had been registered. This is only 41.32% of about 168,977,773 SIM cards across the country and higher than the 66,220,334 registered on April 11, 2023.

The aggregate data from DICT showed that DITO Telecommunity Corp. registered 5,139,813 SIM cards, Globe Telecom Inc. registered 29,967,532, and Smart Communications Corp. registered 34,720,770.

Not registering SIMs and eSIMs will result to automatic deactivation, which can be reactivated after registering within five days after the deactivation.

Those who are yet to register may visit these official landing pages:

SMART – smart.com.ph/simreg or simreg.smart.com.ph
GLOBE – new.globe.com.ph/simreg
DITO – https://dito.ph/sim-registration