OWNERS of subscriber identity module or SIM cards who have trouble registering them due to several factors will soon get assistance from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Phone owners in Central Visayas who continue to struggle to get their SIM cards registered because they do not have internet access or they are not tech-savvy can start approaching NTC 7 office in Mandaue City every Saturday, starting Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, so they can be assisted in the registration process.

Felipe A. Gumalo Jr., the acting head of NTC 7’s Enforcement and Operation Division, said on Wednesday, Jan. 4 that their office would be open for SIM registration assistance from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

To tap LGUs, telcos

As the SIM registration is an online process, Gumalo said they had been discussing additional measures on how they could reach out to those areas with slow to no internet connection.

One initiative they eyed is to put up registration facilities in barangays and other areas that have telecommunication limitations.

He said they are set to coordinate with local government units and telecommunication companies for its implementation.

Gumalo said the facilities would be supervised by personnel from the country’s major telcos themselves.

But he said they have yet to finalize their target areas as they still do not have data on the total number of SIM registrants in Central Visayas.

Telecommunication firm starts rolling out their registration microsites on Dec. 27 after the SIM Registration Law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR) was released.

Out of 170 million SIM users across the country, about 88 million were from Globe Telecom Inc., 68 million from Smart Communications Inc., and 14 million from Dito Telecommunity.

Gumalo said that as of Jan. 3, only Smart Communications had submitted an update on their registration so far, having registered about 5,901,099 of its subscribers nationwide, of which 5,521,194 are prepaid subscribers, 296,905 are postpaid users, and 83,000 corporate (company) SIM holders.