The Philippines has deactivated 54 million SIM cards. The country’s telecom regulator National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) terminated unregistered SIM cards’ service capacities.
The step was taken after the deadline for SIM card registration ended on July 30. Prior to this, NTC had issued a nationwide directive for SIM Card registration.
The regulatory body reported that 113 million, 970 thousand SIM cards are registered in the country which is about 67.83 percent.
As per the latest data, all three operators have over 60% registered SIM cards. Smart Communications has 79.18%, Global Telecom has 61.94%, and Dito Telecom has 51.72% registered SIM cards. Related: Tanzania Blocks Over 900,000 SIM Cards to Contain Their Misuse
Following their deactivation, all the SIM cards are now “dead” meaning they can’t be used for calls, SMS, and data services. It will also directly impact users who were using mobile payment apps for transactions.
New users will now have to buy a SIM card fulfilling the registration process.
The amount in the mobile wallet would remain intact but users will need to obtain the telco’s permission to recharge their new SIM cards.