DICT: SIM card registration now at 15 percent

More than 15 percent of all the SIM cards in the Philippines are now registered, a month after the government implemented the law, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said.

File photo of a SIM card

Over 26M SIM cards registered so far

As of January 28, a total of 26,637,515 SIM cards were registered with the country's major telecommunications firms.

Here's the breakdown:

Smart Communications - 13.632 million or 20.05% of its 67.995 million subscribers

Globe Telecom - 10.883 million or 12.39% of its 87.873 million subscribers

DITO Telecommunity - 2.121 million or 16.19% of its 13.108 million subscribers

The DICT is working with PTEs to address the public’s feedback so we can improve the SIM Registration experience for everyone. We also remind subscribers that their personal information remains protected under the Data Privacy Act. Under this law, PTEs are required to secure subscribers’ data with mandatory encryption of data, DICT spokesperson Anna May Lamentillo said in a statement.

All subscribers have until April 26 of this year to comply. But the DICT may opt to extend the deadline by another 120 days.

DICT chief Ivan Uy earlier said Filipinos are now seeing a decline in text scams after the government implemented SIM registration. In 2022, cybercriminals were targeting Filipinos through phishing messages sent through their mobile numbers. 

This also encouraged government officials to pass the SIM registration law to put an end to the rising test scams. 

Related: HEADS UP! SIM registration is only until April 26

Source: GMA News