A couple of days before the April 26 SIM registration deadline, less than half of the over 170 million SIMs circulating in the country had been registered as of presstime and telcos are getting desperate.

Latest Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) data (April 21, 2023 11:59 pm) showed only 78.596 million SIMs had been registered.

As of presstime, DICT has made no announcement regarding an extension of the deadline, despite clamors from the telcos.

The SIM Registration Act's Implementing Rules and Regulations allow an extension of up to 120 days.

This Monday morning, April 24, Globe Telecom Inc. announced it has sent out urgent reminders to customers through the Emergency Cell Broadcast (ECB) system.

This was done to instill urgency on millions of customers who have yet to register their SIMs.

Globe used the ECB as a component of network management and implemented the emergency blast within acceptable parameters.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has given no objections on the use of ECB after prior notice.

The Free Mobile Disaster Alerts Act allows the NDRRMC and other relevant government agencies to use the telco network system to blast warnings during disasters and emergencies.

Globe took this step as it sought to urgently advise its customers to register their SIMs to avoid deactivation of their mobile services, which are crucial for day-to-day needs.

Globe believes lack of connectivity will be detrimental to mobile users, as this will impact access to services crucial for financial transactions, healthcare, learning, livelihood, transport and deliveries, among others.

Getting disconnected from mobile services will also deprive mobile users of advisories from the government, including disaster warnings.

"We are at a critical time as the deadline draws near, and we want to ensure that our customers are compliant with the law to avoid SIM deactivation," stated Globe Group President and CEO Ernest Cu.

As of April 22, Globe has logged over 35.8 million SIM registrations out of its 86.7 million customer base.

Globe continues to call on its customers to register their SIMs, even as it called on the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to extend the registration deadline beyond April 26.