Despite the DICT rejecting calls to extend the SIM Registration beyond the April 26 deadline, Smart and TnT reiterate its support to extend the deadline.

To support its statement, Smart has 36,558,127 subscribers registered as of April 18, which makes up for around 55.1% of its subscriber base. With only a few days left, Smart still has 45% of its subscribers that remain unregistered.

“Extending the deadline will give our remaining 45% subscriber base ample time to register. At present, all 160 million subscribers in the country are given only 121 days to register. Comparatively, in other countries like Indonesia and India, PTEs were given 1 to 2 years of a registration window to better prepare for and promote SIM registration,” Smart Corporate Communications Group Head Cathy Yang said.

Calls to extend SIM registration stems from challenges users encounter with the process–especially with procuring valid IDs needed for registering their SIMs.

Outside of Smart, Globe, and DITO, GOMO only released their new app with a more detailed SIM registration process on April 19, and some users are facing issues ranging from not being able to submit the needed IDs due to a system error to receiving notifications that their SIM “has been terminated”. GOMO has yet to give an update to address these issues.