THE first day of the SIM card registration was marred by technical glitches, with telecom networks saying they were flooded with applications, overwhelming their system.
Netizens were quick to leave their comments on the major telecommunication networks' social media pages as they were unable to access the registration portal.
Smart Communications, the wireless arm of PLDT, was the first to make an announcement on Tuesday morning, saying it was experiencing technical challenges because of the high volume of people registering their SIM cards.
According to the company, it is still working to ensure that the subscribers will have hassle-free registration.
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"Due to the high volume of registrants, some subscribers may experience difficulty accessing the SIM registration site," the advisory on its social media page said.
"Our technical team is working on increasing capacity," it added.
Smart said post-paid customers need only to send a confirmation via four-digit number 5858 to have their SIM cards registered.
Globe, on the other hand, said it had to make its SIM registration portal new.globe.com.ph/simreg temporarily inaccessible "to ensure a better registration experience for customers."
In a statement, it admitted that several customers were able to access the site and register between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m., but the portal temporarily went offline later.
"We would like to thank our customers for going in to register early. Technical teams are working double time so the online platform can go live before the day ends. Rest assured that we are optimizing our systems to give you a better registration experience. We'd also like to remind our customers that there is enough time to register," Yoly Crisanto, chief of sustainability and corporate communications of the Globe Group, said.
Globe said prepaid customers have until April 26, 2023 to register.
Registration via the Globe One app will begin in January 2023, while on-site assisted registration will start in February for Globe customers facing challenges using digital or online platforms, using feature or basic phones, or have no internet access.
"We ask our customers for their understanding as we experience these birth pains given this massive deployment of software. We're setting the stage for our customers to have a good digital experience," Crisanto said.
On the other hand, data and information of existing Globe, Globe Platinum and Globe Business post-paid customers are already included in the Globe registration platform.
Globe said it will get in touch with these customers to confirm and complete their registration details to ensure customer information is aligned with the requirements of the law.
Meanwhile, Anna Mae Lamentillo, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) undersecretary and spokesman, said they expect the first two weeks of the implementation of the SIM registration to be under the "test period," wherein there will be several glitches or technical issues that may be expected as the public telecommunications entities (PTE) fine-tune their respective processes.
"The first 15 days starting December 27 is a test period. This means that registrations during this period are all valid, but we are already anticipating that there could be some difficulties because this process is new to both the subscribers and the PTEs. During this 15-day test period, the PTEs will be able to assess what they need to improve on to make the registration process more efficient and easier for subscribers," Lamentillo added.
The DICT on Tuesday launched their 24/7 complaint center, which will serve as a support system for the implementation of the SIM registration.
"DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy wants the SIM registration to be done as soon as possible within 180 days, and he wants to ensure that the process will be as seamless as possible. That is why we launched a 24/7 complaint center so that concerns can be reported immediately and acted upon promptly," Lamentillo said.
The Complaint Center for the SIM Registration will be under the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, an attached agency of the DICT.
Concerns related to the SIM registration can be directed to them through hotline 1326.
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