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Globe, Smart willing to work with gov't on SIM Card Registration rules

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ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA - Globe Telecom and PLDT Inc are willing to work with government to craft rules and regulations for the recently ratified SIM Card Registration Act.</p><p>Globe General Counsel Atty. Froilan Castelo said &quot;critical issues&quot; needed to be addressed including the timetable of registrations. &quot;As the bill awaits the President’s signature, we are looking forward to threshing out critical issues surrounding its implementation, including addressing challenges on the timetable for registration of tens of millions of SIM cards currently in use,&quot; Castelo said in a statement.</p><p>Smart Communications Vice President for Regulatory Affairs Atty. Roy Ibay also said there should be sufficient registration period and enough safeguard to protect prepaid subscribers.</p><p>Once effective, the SIM Card Registration Act will require all SIM card subscribers with active services to register with their telcos within 180 days, the bill states. </p><p>Globe said its support for the measure signifies its commitment &quot;to support the government in its fight against fraud, terrorism and other crimes. It also paves the way for greater digital and financial inclusion.&quot;</p><p>&quot;We hope that this bill, once enacted into law, will further strengthen government-private sector cooperation towards protecting mobile phone users against text scams and crimes perpetrated in anonymity,&quot; the Ayala-led telco said. </p><p>Globe said it has around 85 million customers out of over 120 million total mobile subscribers in the country.<br/> </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/03/22/congress-oks-registration-of-sim-cards-social-media-accounts">Congress OKs mandatory registration of SIM cards, social media accounts</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/16/21/senate-oks-sim-card-registration-act-on-3rd-reading">Senate passes SIM Card Registration Act on final reading</a></li></ul><p>PLDT, its wireless unit Smart and the Philippine Chamber of Telecom Operators, meanwhile said they are backing the measure since it will &quot;quash the proliferation of fraudulent spam messages, Smishing cases and fraud and boost telecom security efforts to keep subscribers safe.&quot;</p><p>The ratified version of the SIM registration bill aims to prevent the following: </p><ul>	<li> internet or electronic communication-aided crimes like terrorism</li>	<li> text scams</li>	<li> unsolicited, indecent or obscene messages</li>	<li> bank fraud</li>	<li> libel</li>	<li> anonymous online defamation</li>	<li> trolling</li>	<li> hate speech</li>	<li> spread of digital disinformation or fake news as defined under pertinent laws</li></ul><p>Text or sms-based phishing scams proliferated recently in what authorities thought was operated by an international syndicate. </p><p>Regulators, law enforcements, e-commerce sites and financial firms have worked together to mitigate the text scam which victimized users by asking for personal information that are then used to siphon money.<br/> </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/01/21/privacy-watchdog-probes-sms-spam-forms-inter-agency-body-vs-cybercrimes">Privacy watchdog probes SMS spam; forms inter-agency body vs cybercrimes</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/23/21/smart-says-organized-global-syndicate-could-be-behind-sms-spam">Smart says &#x27;organized global syndicate&#x27; could be behind SMS spam</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/22/21/globe-says-beefing-up-efforts-vs-text-spam">Globe says over 5,000 numbers deactivated in beefed up efforts vs text spam</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1839251" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Globe Telecom and PLDT Inc have said they would support the implementation of the mandatory SIM card registration after the Congress ratified the measure earlier this week.