Last Monday, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr signed the SIM Card Registration Act into law. And the three largest telecommunications companies in the country, DITO Telecommunity, Globe Telecom, and PLDT-Smart, expressed their support for the new law.
With the help of the new law, SIM card usage will be held more accountable, and criminals using mobile devices will be identified. According to the new law, all public telecommunications entities (PTEs) or direct dealers will now need SIM card customers to present a legitimate identity document with a photo to register.
Major telcos support SIM Card Registration law
Globe said in a statement that it wanted the National ID system to be fully implemented since it was “a verifiable and fool-proof identification system” that could support the implementation of the new law.
If individuals were permitted to provide any kind of identification, according to the Ayala-led company, scammers would continue to attack the industry.
Globe General Counsel Froilan M. Castelo said “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 cyber threats and other crimes carried out using mobile phones.” He added.
Smart Communications also complimented the decision of the President, but they are hoping for more time to prepare for SIM Registration.
In addition, Smart said in a separate statement that telecommunication carriers need enough time to test their systems to assure the safety of the information that would be acquired from prepaid consumers. Besides, Smart revealed its intention to carry out an information campaign so that users may register their SIM cards with ease.
“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.
The Pangilinan-led provider, according to Ibay, is prepared to take part in the development of the implementing rules and regulations.
Meanwhile, in line with Globe’s concern, DITO stated that the main issue would be identification verification.
The usage of both the national ID and passport systems as methods of verifying the identification of the consumer would “greatly help,” according to DITO.
DITO Telecommunity Chief Technology Officer Rodolfo Santiago said that “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,”.
What do you think? Do you agree with the new SIM Card Registration law?
