CEBU CITY, Cebu, Jan. 11 (PIA) -- Mobile phone users in the country are urged to register their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards as early as possible to avoid any inconvenience in the registration process.

All mobile subscribers have 180 days or until June 27, 2023, to register their SIM card as mandated by the SIM Registration Act. 

The registration may be extended for a period not exceeding 120 days.

SIM cards that will not be registered within the given period will be deactivated.

"Moawhag mi sa publiko nga mag pa register dayun, dili ta maghuwat  nga mo end na ang registration period aron wala nay inconvenience nga atong ma encounter, dili ta maghuwat nga magkaproblema (We are asking the public to register immediately and not wait at the last minute to avoid any inconveniences)," said Smart Group Corporate Communications Visayas Relations Head Marylou Gocotano during the Kapihan sa PIA program conducted by the Philippine Information Agency Region 7. 

To make the registration process easier, more convenient, and more accessible to the public, the telcos have set up SIM registration assistance booths in different parts of the country. 

These registration booths have equipment and facilities that will be used to assist SIM card users in their registration process.

The telcos are also coordinating with various local government units to put up SIM registration booths in their areas, especially those without access to internet connectivity.

"Ayaw kabalaka alang sa mga customers nga walay internet connectivity kay naa tay lain-laing SIM registration assistance booths (For customers who have no access to internet, don't worry as there are several SIM registration assistance booths," said Globe Corp Communications Manager for VisMin Rofil Magno in the same forum. 

Magno cautioned subscribers to register only with the links provided by the telcos. 

"Magbantay lang gyud ta kay naa daghan nga mga creative individuals kay ang link posible nga i-mask nila o pulihan niya i-direct ka sa lain nga link. Go to the official legitimate website sa mga telcos aron nga di basta-basta makuha inyung mga data (Be careful as there are creative individuals who will possibly mask or change the links to lead you to another website. Go to the official legitimate website of the telcos so that your data will be safe)," he added.

Based on the latest data on SIM registration count, there are around 7.5 million Globe prepaid subscribers who have already registered their SIM cards as of Jan. 11, while the number of registered Smart subscribers reached 8,037,062 as of Jan. 10.

The public can register their SIM card at any time and on any day of the week since their respective SIM registration portals are operational 24/7 and the SIM registration process only takes less than 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Region 7 said they have not observed any major concerns related to the ongoing mandatory SIM registration except for minimal problems in the system due to the huge volume of users accessing the registration sites of the telcos.

"Wala ray nakita nga problem ang NTC sa implementation sa SIM Registration Act. Ang problem lang kay kung magdungan ang daghan og register, tungod sa volume, magka problema sa system pud ang pag upload sa photo, kay naay requirement ang MB sa photo nga iupload (NTC has not seen any major problems in the implementation of the SIM Registration Act except for those times when a huge volume of users would try to register at the same time, which causes system issues)," said NTC-7 Public Information Officer Engr. Bill Peralta in the same forum. 

Republic Act 11934, or the SIM Registration Act, which was signed into law in October 2022, is a strategy to combat the current increase in text and online scam messages, which have become prevalent in recent years. (RGC/PIA7 Cebu)