DIGITAL solutions provider Globe Telecoms on Monday admitted that since the 90-day grace period was given on April 26, 2023, registration of the subscriber identification modules had again slowed down.
Since the deadline was extended, there has been a slowdown in SIM registration volume, which is consistent across all players in the market
However, Globe announced that they had made a significant progress in its SIM registration efforts.
The company said that as of Monday, May 15, they successfully registered around 85% of its active users and is confident that it can cover the rest of its revenue-generating customer base well within the 90-day extension period.
No exact figures were given.
“We intend to have 100% of our revenue-generating base fully registered within the 90-day extension. We are confident that we can achieve this with the initiatives that we are taking,” Darius Delgado, Head of Globe Consumer Mobile Business said.
According to data from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the number of subscriber identification module (SIM) cards registered is nearing 100,000 as telecom companies continue to remind patrons of their obligation under the law.
According to the records from the NTC, as of May 13, 2023, the number of registered subscribers has reached 95,705,691 out of the active subscribers of 168,016,400 or 56.96 percent.
Smart continues to lead the registration with 45,292,732 of their 66,304,761 subscribers registered for 68.31 percent.
Globe follows with 44,013,462 of 86,746,672 registered or 50.74 percent.
Dito comes in at third with 6,399,497 out of the 14,964,967 registered or 46.76%.
Meanwhile, Globe said that they had implemented various steps to make registration as easy and accessible as possible, including opening up GCash as a channel for fully verified Globe and TM users to register their SIMs with just a few clicks.
This is on top of the GlobeOne app and the https://new.globe.com.ph/simreg microsite which are also available 24/7.
Additionally, Globe continues to operate its SIM-assisted registration booths and plans to scale up these efforts, particularly in rural areas where registration has lagged behind.
The company’s 144 Stores and 25 EasyHubs across the country are also open to customers who need help registering their SIMs.
Globe is committed to ensuring its customers’ compliance with the SIM Registration Act and is working closely with local government units, groceries, and malls to set up assisted registration booths in various remote locations. It has also been regularly joining SIM registration assistance initiatives led by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) since January.
Globe continues to appeal to the government to allow the submission of alternative IDs for SIM registration as many Filipinos still lack government IDs.
“We applaud the government for extending the SIM registration deadline, as this gives millions of our unregistered customers more time to comply with the law. But we continue to ask for conditional registration that will allow us to accept other forms of identification such as school IDs and company IDs. This will help our customers who do not yet have a government ID to register across our channels,” Delgado said.
Unregistered SIM users have until July 25 to complete their SIM registration. Globe urges its subscribers to quickly take advantage of the extended time and not wait until the last minute to register to avoid the deactivation of their SIMs.
Catherine R. Cueto
