MANILA, Philippines — Incidents of lost or stolen phones have dropped significantly over the past year as the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to stay at home.
Cell phone blocking concerns reported by consumers to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) decreased last year, and even more so this year, indicating that fewer people are having their phones stolen.
In 2019, the NTC received a total of 34,353 cell phone blocking concerns or an average of 2,863 per month, data provided to The STAR showed.
Cell phone blocking, according to the NTC, refers to stolen and lost phones.
Last year, the number of cell phone blockings dropped to 15,445 or by 55 percent.
In the first three months of 2020, when lockdowns were not yet imposed, incidents of stolen and lost phones reported to the NTC averaged 2,790 per month.
The average fell to only 786 per month from April to December last year, with various quarantine restrictions already in place across the country.
In the first six months of the year, the NTC received zero cell phone blocking concerns from consumers.
NTC head of consumer welfare and protection division Xandra Molina said it would be safe to assume that fewer people are losing or having their phones stolen compared to the pre-pandemic days as most of the people have been staying at home or have been limiting their exposure outside due to restrictions.
The NTC’s consumer welfare and protection division handles concerns such as cell phone blocking as well as complaints such as intermittent and poor internet connection, bill shock and data charges, text spam, vanishing load, unwanted call or text and fair usage policy.