PH's major telco players support SIM registration law
The country's mobile operators said they are ready to support the newly-signed law on the mandatory registration of the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM).
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| Three major telco players |
Major telcos back SIM registration law
Globe Telecom, PLDT's Smart Communications, and DITO Telecommunity welcomed President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s signing of the SIM Registration bill on Monday morning.
In a statement, Globe sought the full rollout of the National ID system, seeing this as "a verifiable and fool-proof identification system" that could complement the new law's implementation.
The Ayala-led firm argued that if people were allowed to submit any form of identification, fraudsters would continue to pester the market.
For this reason, our position has been clear from the beginning, a National ID system must be in place to ensure the safe and successful implementation of this new law. We support the passage of this measure after previous roadblocks and we are ready to comply. Aside from our advanced cybersecurity capabilities, we welcome a new regulatory environment that has stronger safeguards against cyberthreats and other crimes carried out using mobile phones, said Globe General Counsel Froilan M. Castelo.
While Smart Communications hailed Marcos' decision, the company hopes to secure "more time" to prepare for SIM registration.
In a separate statement, Smart said telco carriers must have enough time to "test its systems to ensure the safety of the information that will be collected from prepaid subscribers."
Smart bared its plan to launch an information campaign so subscribers can experience a hassle-free experience when registering their SIMs.
This industry-wide effort will impact not just the telecommunications companies but the thousands of retailers and millions of Filipinos using telco services as well, said Atty Roy D. Ibay, Smart VP and Head of Regulatory Affairs.
Ibay said the Pangilinan-led provider is ready to participate in the formulation of the implementing rules and regulations.
DITO, on the other hand, echoed Globe's concern, saying the major challenge would be the validation of identity.
The third telco player said it would "greatly help" if both the national ID and passport system would be used as the validation of the identity of the consumer.
Doing so will unburden the telcos of the need to establish another database to store biometrics data, which would be time-consuming and resource-heavy. Everyone in DITO Telecommunity is one with the efforts of the Philippine government. We stand by our commitment to be strong partners in nation-building, said DITO Telecommunity Chief Technology Officer Rodolfo Santiago.
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