As reports of spurious text messages, suspicious links to websites, and confusion surrounding SIM card registration abound, Sen. Nancy Binay has asked government agencies and telecommunication providers to setup mobile kiosks to assist mobile phone registrants.
Photo from Senate
According to the senator, mobile kiosks in malls, plazas, schools, community centers will both serve as an information booth, and a registration center.
“Siguro, pwede nating tingnan as a template or operational model during the pandemic ang ‘gaya ng Covid vaccination centers sa LGUs. Meaning, isang offsite venue that would serve as in inquiry/information booth, and at the same time as a registration center that would assist non-techie mobile users, and those without internet access,” Binay suggested.
She said that confusion in the registration, and the unexpected technical glitches have brought out problems on both ends of the registration process.
“Naiintindihan natin ang birth pains ng telcos, kaya mas mainam na i-simplify natin ang proseso sa pagre-register, at tulungan yung mga ‘di gaanong pamilyar sa online transactions. Kaya gusto natin na ang DICT, NTC, ang mga telco, PIA, media, at LGUs na mag-collaborate at magkaroon ng sistema tulad ng ginawa sa vaccination drive but modified and adapted for purposes of SIM registration,” Binay pointed out.
The senator likewise urged the DICT to come up with an omnibus and unified nationwide information drive to guide the public about SIM card registration, and provide free Internet access in offsite registration centers for mobile users who do not have Internet access.
Meanwhile, Ayala-owned Globe its SIM registration portal was able to register nearly four million SIM in three days after a 72-hour observation period.
“We took the last 72 hours to observe fixes we made on our SIM registration portal, and it has held stable after full optimization. We would like to thank our 87.9 million customers for their continued understanding as we had to adjust our system,” said Globe chief commercial officer Issa Guevarra-Cabreira.
As of 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 30, Globe said it has logged over 3.9 million registered SIMs in its portal.
Globe also assured its customers that there is enough time to register. “All Globe Prepaid, TM, Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi, Globe Mobile WiFi and Globe Business prepaid customers have until April 26, 2023 to register,” it added.
