NTC: Registered SIMs hit 110 million by deadline

The Philippines registered more than 110 million SIMs at the close of the seven-month registration period on July 25, government data showed. 

According to the National Telecommunications Commission, a total of 110,177,996 SIMs were registered, representing 65.58% of the 168 million subscriber base as of December 2022.

The number of registered SIMs for each of the country’s three major telco providers is as follows:

Smart: 50.835 million (76.67%)

Globe: 51.723 million (59.63%)

DITO: 7.619 million (50.92%) 

The registration period, which began last December, was supposed to end on April 26, but the government extended it by 90 days from April 25, as only around half of the subscriber base had been registered.

The SIM Registration Act (Republic Act 11934), which seeks to provide law enforcement agencies the necessary tools to deter crimes committed using SIM cards, allows an extension of up to 120 days.

Non-registration will result in the deactivation of SIMs and eSIMs, barring individuals from receiving and sending calls and text messages and accessing mobile applications and digital wallets, the Department of Information and Communications Technology had said.