MANILA - Philippine telecommunications companies again urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Wednesday to extend the deadline for SIM registration.
This was after the DICT said that there was no extension of the deadline yet.
According to Cathy Yang, First Vice President and Corporate Communications Group Head of PLDT and Smart, they are asking for a 120-day extension to complete the registration of its subscribers.
As of April 18, Smart has already registered over 36 million subscribers, of which 34.9 million are prepaid users.
This accounts for 55.1 percent of the total users of Smart, Yang added.
"If we are given 120 days more, makukumpleto natin 'yan 100 percent," she said.
"Patuloy pa rin tayong hinihimok ang government natin ano. We still have 7 days to go and sana, sana payagan nila ang ating hiling sa pag-extend," Yang also said.
Yolly Crisanto, chief of the Sustainability and Corporate Communications Office of Globe Group, also hopes the DICT will consider their request for an extension.
"Actually umaasa pa rin kami na ma-extend. We saw the statement of DICT today but we are still pressing for an extension," she said.
Crisanto said Globe has already registered 38 percent of its subscribers, adding that extending the deadline will give their subscribers more time to get the necessary government IDs.
"There's a lot of barriers na kailangan natin i-hurdle, and that is why, I am saying, we are still pressing for an extension," she said.
"All we're asking for is to consider an extension," Crisanto added.
DICT earlier said there is no extension of the April 26 SIM registration deadline "at this point".
In a statement, the DICT said it has received the requests of telcos to extend the SIM registration period as provided in the SIM Registration Act, but they have not acted on these requests.
DICT, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Globe, Smart, PLDT, telcos, SIM card registration, SIM Registration Act, Teleradyo