Telecommunication providers Smart Communications and TNT once again appealed to the Department of Information and Comunnications Technology (DICT) to extend the April 26 deadline for the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card registration, citing that the days given to Filipino subscribers were too short.
The second appeal was made after DICT issued a statement saying that there will be no extension of SIM Card registration.
"Extending the deadline will give our remaining 45% subscriber base ample time to register. At present, all 160 million subscribers in the country are given only 121 days to register," PLDT and Smart FVP and Group Head for Corporate Communications Cathy Yang said in a statement.
She said the days given to Pinoy users are shorter as compared to Indonesia and India where telcos were given one to two years of registration.
"The extension will also help our subscribers secure valid IDs or proofs needed to register their SIM. We don't want to alienate or leave behind the remaining 45% who have yet registered," Yang said.
According to DICT, it will not extend the deadline in order to "promote responsible SIMs and provide law enforcement agencies the necessary tools to crack down on perpetrators who use SIMs for their crimes, consistent with the declared policy of the law."
The latest data from DICT showed that at least 73 million out of the 168 million mobile users nationwide have successfully registered their SIM Cards.
