Globe Telecom Inc. has begun preparations to register the SIM cards of its over 87.4 million customers within six months, the telco announced Thursday, Oct. 27.
Last Friday, the National Telecommunications Commission started consultations with government agencies and various stakeholders, including telcos to craf the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the SIM Registration law, signed this October 10.
Once the IRR is approved and published, Globe will start registering all existing users of SIMs, including physical SIM cards and e-SIMs on mobile devices.
"Our SIM registration process should be as seamless and painless to customers as possible," stressed Globe Group President and CEO Ernest Cu.
"Our goal is to stay true to the spirit of the law in carrying out its provisions while ensuring that the conduct of SIM registration will be secure, inclusive and convenient for our customers,” he added.
Globe is looking at international best practices in designing its SIM registration platform.
It is also leveraging its suite of best-in-class digital solutions to deliver an easy but secure registration system.
“We’d like to assure our customers that their data will be protected even as we give them a hassle-free registration process. We wish to effectively roll out this landmark law,” according to Cu.
The Philippines’ SIM Registration Act is expected to address the proliferation of smishing and other forms of scam and spam messaging due to the anonymity afforded by prepaid SIMs.
Already, Globe has taken several steps to curb these disruptive messages through proactive blocking, threat intelligence partnerships with financial institutions, a customer reporting portal, and an awareness and education campaign to help customers protect themselves.
From January to September this year, Globe deactivated 16,215 mobile numbers and blacklisted 19,343 more for involvement in scam and spam messaging. It also blocked a total 1.3 billion spam and scam messages within the same period.