The Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) confirmed that between 95 million and 96 million mobile SIMs were registered nationwide by 10th May.
DICT secretary Ivan John Uy said in a TV interview (reported on by TeleGeography) that the department does not expect this figure to exceed 100 million by the final registration deadline - which was extended to 25th July 2023 – as it expects the current completion rate to be around 95% or 96% of the final registration count. This falls well short of the 168 million SIMs known to be active across the Philippines.
In April, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) conceded that the government understood that it was unlikely that all SIMs would ultimately be registered, and Uy’s interview appears to be an admission that 100% registration is no longer the government’s aim. However, SIMs that remain unregistered by the deadline will still be disconnected.