On 27th December 2022, the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act was implemented. Its aim is to protect users from spam messages and scams through text. Under this act, all sim users are required by law to register their sim by 26 April.
However, due to low numbers of registration, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) declared that the SIM registration deadline will extend up to 90 days.
Image credit: Sim Card Registration via Facebook
While some officials initially agreed to have no extensions beyond the original deadline of 26 April 2023, the low registration rate led them to rethink this decision.
Image credit: Philippine Star via Facebook
Senator Grace Poe commented that some rural and remote areas, including the Bangsamoro region, need to be reached out to. This means that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and other telecommunications companies should maximize their efforts in upping the registration numbers in these areas.
At the moment, only less than 60% out of 168 million active SIMs have been registered.
Image credit: Philippine Star via Facebook
While SIM users still have a chance to register given the extension period, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla reiterated that most social media services will be suspended during the 90-day extension period.
Because of this, unregistered SIMs will experience social media inaccessibility with their corresponding service providers in the next 90 days. Services will only be reactivated once the registration has been made. Failure to register within the extension period will lead to complete SIM deactivation.
As Senator Grace Poe stated, the SIM Registration Act is “not meant to punish legitimate SIM subscribers”, but it was executed to put a stop to crimes being committed through text – an issue that has become widespread in the country.
While it’s not a surefire way to completely end them, officials believe that it can lessen the spam and scams going rampant. In this case, support from the public will be much appreciated.
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Cover image adapted from: Philippine Star via Facebook
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