DICT: Eagerness to register SIM cards welcome, but patience needed
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology on Tuesday welcomed apparent eagerness by the public to register their SIM cards but also advised them to be patient as implementation of the new law hit snags on the first day.
The DICT launched a 24/7 complaint center where people can report issues related to SIM registration and provide suggestions on how the process can be improved. Users may call this complaint center through hotline 1326.
DICT Undersecretary Alexander Ramos, who heads the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center tasked to man the hotline, said over Super Radyo DZBB that they have received around 120 complaints, mostly about not being able to access sites and queries on how to register.
"It's good that we register early, but we appeal for a little patience since everyone is adjusting. Let us give our partner telcos time to make appropriate adjustments," Ramos said.
The SIM Registration Act was among the laws identified by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as his administration’s priorities and was swiftly and overwhelmingly approved by Congress, which is dominated by his allies.
'Bear with us'
Cathy Yang, PLDT-Smart first vice president and corporate communications head, told CNN Philippines’ "The Source" that the high traffic to their registration portal is "great news" as this meant that people are eager to comply with the SIM registration law.
Still, Yang appealed to subscribers to "bear with us" as she emphasized that they are trying to increase capacity to accommodate more users into the portal.
"This is the first time we're doing this," she said.
Globe corporate communications head Yoly Crisanto told DZBB earlier Tuesday that they had to take down their registration portal to comply with the mandate to also include a verification process by uploading a selfie with a government-issued ID.
"If you recall, what the law asked telcos to do is to register their subscribers," Crisanto said in Filipino. "But yesterday, based on the press conference, the government asked for some sort of verification."
This, Crisanto said, is in addition to fixes being implemented as users reported that they received a "null" response after registration.
Globe released a statement later in the day saying that "several" customers were able to access the site and register between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. before the portal went offline as it is "being optimized."
"Technical teams are working double time so the online platform can go live before the day ends. Rest assured that we are optimizing our systems to give you a better registration experience," Crisanto said in the statement.
Globe's Crisanto also appealed for understanding from their customers "as we experience these birth pains given this massive deployment of software."
She added that while they are thankful that their subscribers are registering early, there is enough time to register until April 26, the deadline to register.
Unregistered SIM cards will be deactivated.
Mandatory SIM card registration has been touted as a means to curb crime and text scams but the law has also raised concerns about privacy and potential government surveillance. — from a report by Xave Gregorio
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