The total number of registered subscriber identity module (SIM) users in the country has exceeded the government’s target of 110 million, according to data from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
On July 25 — the deadline for the 120 days extension for mobile users to register their SIMs, the total registered SIMs reached 110.2 million which is equivalent to 66 percent of the total 168 million subscribers in the country as of the end of 2022, the NTC said.
Of the total registered SIM users, Globe Telecom Inc. accounted for 51.7 million; Smart Communications Inc., 60.8 million; and DITO Telecommunity Corp., 7.6 million users which is equivalent to 77 percent, 60 percent and 51 percent of their total subscriber base as of the end of last year.
The number of registered SIMs surpassed the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s target of reaching 100 million to 110 million mobile users.
This is seen to increase as the deactivated SIMs on July 25 may still be reactivated until July 30 in accordance with the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the SIM Registration Act.
According to the NTC, failure to register SIMs by 11:59 p.m. of July 25 resulted in the deactivation of telecommunications and mobile data services including social media access, except for the purpose of having these unregistered SIMs reactivated, but only up to July 30. Access to online banking and other online financial transactions has also been deactivated.
By July 31, all unregistered SIMs would be permanently deactivated and could no longer be registered.
Under the IRR, all the SIMs to be sold and issued by telecom firms, their resellers or any entity should be in a deactivated state as defined in Rule 1 Section 3(f) of the IRR. These would only be activated after the end user completes the process of registration.
