Telcos nix SIM card registration

MANILA, Philippines - Rivals Globe Telecom Inc. and dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) together with other major players in the telecommunication industry are strongly opposing the proposed registration of SIM (subscriber identity modules) card used in mobile phones.

In a position paper submitted to the House of Representatives, the Philippine Chamber of Telecommunications Operators (PCTO) opposed the SIM card Registration Act as proposed under House Bill 525, 858, 1519, 2444, 2588, and 2624.

Rodolfo Salalima, PCTO president, said the United Nations Committee on Human Rights has declared that the right to telecommunicate is a basic human right including not only the right to telecom services and information but also includes the right to access equipment and network or infrastructure.

“The industry respectfully views the House Bills as negative factors which, despite their good intent, will stifle and in effect contravene any and every individual’s human right to telecommunicate in this internet era,” Salalima stated in the paper.

Salalima, who is also chief legal consel of Globe and Innove Communications Inc., pointed out that the proposed bills run counter to the government’s present and prevailing universal service policy embodied under Republic Act 7925 or the New Telecoms Policy Act.

The law, he said, provides the right of every Filipino, whether in the urban or in the rural areas, to have access to basic means of telecommunication services.

Data showed that the present number of Sim cardholders in the Philippines is currently at over 100 million.

The lawyer also repleaded and included in the position paper the group’s pleadings filed in February of 2011 opposing the proposed bills.

“The bills, however, are nothing new as most of their proposed contents have been the subject of past bills discussed during past Congress, in relation to which the undersigned organization was invited to participate,” he added.

In its previous position paper, PCTO said the proposed registration of SIM cards is an unpractical and ineffective solution due to the absence of a reliable ID system in the Philippines.

Likewise, the group cited the administrative nightmare as less than 10 percent of the total subscribers in the country is postpaid subscribers while the rest are prepaid subscribers.

It added that the proposed registration of Sim cards would not deter criminal activities in the country.

Aside from Globe and PLDT, other members of PCTO include Bayan Telecommunications, Capitol Wireless, Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Express Telecommunications Company, Philcom Corp., Philippine Association of Private Telecom Companies, Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Pilipino Telephone Corp., Telecommunications Technologies of the Philippines.

The proposed registration of SIM cards was revived for security purposes following a cellphone-triggered bombing that killed eight people in Cagayan de Oro in July.

Malacanang earlier said the proposal of several lawmakers to register prepaid SIM cards needs further study.