As of midnight earlier today, unregistered SIM cards across the country have been deactivated.
The NTC has clarified that there will be no more extensions, such as what happened in April when the registration was given an additional 90-days.
Unless you count the grace period, that is. As per the NTC, owners of deactivated SIM cards have five days to catch up on the registration process of their SIM cards to reactivate them.
After the five-day grace period, there should no longer be any more extensions or grace periods.
According to the NTC, there are over 105.9 million registered SIM cards, representing 63% of the country.
The grace period allows one more opportunity for users to register their SIM cards, preventing problems for numbers linked to personal and professional accounts, such as online banking.
By the end of July, all deactivated SIM cards can no longer be restored.
SIM registration is seen as a solution to curb SMS scams and spams, as anyone who sends a malicious SMS would be identified. This also places a responsibility on owners to safeguard their SIM card numbers, as they will be held accountable for any suspicious activity.