NTC: 22.2M SIMS currently registered, 13.20% of total existing SIM subscribers
NTC Officer-in-Charge Commissioner Ella Blanca B. Lopez reported that, as of 18 January 2023, there has been a total of 22,298,020 successful SIM registrations. This represents 13.20 percent of the total 168 million active SIM subscribers as of September 2022.
The NTC said that Dito to date has 1,844,675 successful SIM registrations, while Globe has 9,337,537 and Smart 11,115,808.
Lopez said, “It is vital that we maintain, or better yet increase, the current pace of daily SIM registration to meet the deadline of 26 April 2023 for all SIMs to be duly registered”.
In a meeting of the Inter-Agency Ad Hoc Committee for Facilitation of SIM Registration in Remote Areas, NTC presented to member agencies and telcos the list of places identified by its SIM Registration Act Task Force as remote.
Lopez said, “A total of forty-five (45) remote areas within 15 regions of the country were identified. Remote areas for Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will still be coordinated with the Bangsamoro Telecommunications Commission.”
The Commission suggested a simultaneous roll-out of SIM Registration activities among the areas identified starting 25 January 2023. The telcos are to check the operational feasibility of such a plan and are expected to give the Commission a feedback on the matter on 20 January 2023.
Members of the Inter-Agency Ad Hoc Committee all agreed to provide assistance as telcos visit these remote areas for their SIM Registration efforts. Present during the meeting were representatives the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Education, Department of Public Works and Highways, Philippine Information Agency, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and the Philippine Coast Guard.
Lopez appreciated the concerted effort of all government agencies involved in ensuring that the implementation of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s first priority legislation become a success.
