As expected, problems plague first hours of SIM registration
MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 4:05 p.m.) — The first few hours of SIM registration did not go smoothly as registration portals of the two largest telecommunications companies in the country were either taken down to fix issues or bogged down by heavy traffic.
Mobile users complained that the registration portals of Globe and Smart were inaccessible almost as soon as they opened past Tuesday midnight, with many still unable to register their SIMs hours after.
Globe corporate communications head Yoly Crisanto told DZBB that they had to take down their registration portal to comply with the mandate to also include a verification process by uploading a selfie with a government-issued ID.
“If you recall, what the law asked telcos to do is to register their subscribers,” Crisanto said in Filipino. “But yesterday, based on the press conference, the government asked for some sort of verification.”
This, Crisanto said, is in addition to fixes being implemented as users reported that they received a “null” response after registration.
Globe released a statement later in the day saying that "several" customers were able to access the site and register between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. before the portal went offline as it is "being optimized."
"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," Crisanto said in the statement.
Globe also posted on social media thanking its users "for taking the first steps to register," but also advising them to "try again later" if they encounter problems accessing the registration portal.
Meanwhile, Smart said in a now-deleted advisory posted on its social media accounts that “due to high volume [of] registrants some subscribers may experience difficulty accessing the SIM registration site.”
“Please try again later.”
In a new advisory posted around 30 minutes later, Smart said, “Our technical team is working on increasing capacity.”
SIM registration for DITO subscribers, on the other hand, have been described by the new telco player as "generally smooth" as it reported that as of 3 p.m. today, 208,039 of its subscribers have registered their SIMs.
'Bear with us'
Cathy Yang, PLDT-Smart first vice president and corporate communications head, told CNN Philippines’ “The Source” that the high traffic to their registration portal is “great news” as this meant that people are eager to comply with the SIM registration law.
Still, Yang appealed to subscribers to “bear with us” as she emphasized that they are trying to increase capacity to accommodate more users into the portal.
“This is the first time we’re doing this,” she said.
Globe's Crisanto also appealed for understanding from their customers "as we experience these birth pains given this massive deployment of software."
She added that while they are thankful that their subscribers are registering early, there is enough time to register until April 26.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology forewarned Monday that problems may occur in the first two weeks of SIM registration, which it said will be considered a “test registration” period.
“During this 15-day test period, the [telcos] will be able to assess what they need to improve on to make the registration process more efficient and easier for subscribers,” DICT spokesperson Anna Mae Lamentillo said in a statement.
The DICT launched a 24/7 complaint center where people can report issues related to SIM registration and provide suggestions on how the process can be improved. Users may call this complaint center through hotline 1326.
DICT Undersecretary Alexander Ramos, who heads the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center tasked to man the hotline, said over DZBB that they have received around 120 complaints, mostly about not being able to access sites and queries on how to register.
"It's good that we register early, but we appeal for a little patience since everyone is adjusting. Let us give our partner telcos time to make appropriate adjustments," Ramos said.
The SIM Registration Act was among the laws identified by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as his administration’s priorities and was swiftly and overwhelmingly approved by Congress, which is dominated by his allies.
The law is meant to curb crime and spam text messages, although ICT rights advocates have cast doubt whether it will actually work given the failure of similar measures in other countries.
A similar proposal was rejected by Marcos’ predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, over concerns that the bill — which then contained a provision for the registration of social media accounts — over concerns that this will “give rise to a situation of dangerous state intrusion and surveillance.”
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