The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Tuesday expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the registration of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards as its deadline lapses.
ICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said 65 percent of SIM cards sold by the telecommunications carriers sought protection under the program and have them registered.
“The latest number we received was 105 million SIM cards that have been registered already. We are on target although our original goal was 160 million SIM cards. Actually, considering the large number of online scams, I think the larger percentage of SIMs are not legitimate, which means the SIM cards were used for telemarketing or scamming. Realistically we are looking at 70 percent,” DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said at the sidelines of Tuesday’s post-SONA forum.
According to Uy, the agency expected between 100 million to 110 million revenue-generating SIM cards to register and avoid deactivation of service.
“So at 105 million (registered SIMs) we’re on the right on the dot in terms of our target,” he said.
As of 23 July, the total registered SIMs reached only 105.26 million or 62.65 percent of the aggregate telco subscriber base of 168.02 million.
Of the number, Globe registered 48.02 million or 55.36 percent of total subscribers of 86.75 million, while Smart registered 49.74 million or 75.02 percent of its 66.30 million subscribers.
DITO, meanwhile, registered more than 7.5 million or 50.12 percent of its 14.96 million subscriber base.
