It’s not surprising at all if the country’s telecommunication companies are dismayed over the “unsuccessful” drive of the government to have the people’s SIM cards registered. It is because, the registration process is strictly limiting itself to certain valid government IDs that not all people possess.
Per experience by many, this SIM card registration is not easy. The process is meticulous, and extra sensitive as well. For instance, while one is filling out the form to comply with the registration requirements, the process could suddenly stop, saying that the registrant had gone overtime. In other words, there is a time limit for every step, and it cannot wait nor extend as one would have to start all over again.
Not only that but the process is also very demanding. It demands registrants to upload a valid ID, for instance, and would not allow any ID at that. Now this is quite problematic, because again, many people do not have such valid IDs for many reasons, such as age, employment, etc. Grade school children who mostly own their own mobiles cannot register their SIM cards since they can’t have valid IDs yet; all they have is a school ID.
It is for this reasons that telcos are appealing to the government to be considerate enough if it wants the registration procedure to succeed. The government, no doubt, is working in good faith here, aiming to eliminate scams or mobile related crimes involving cellphone users. But such registration should be made easier for people to process.
Now that the registration deadline is fast approaching, which is April 26 this year, the number of those who registered is still far from the expectation. The government then should extend that deadline, or else so many subscribers and cellphone users would lose their SIM card numbers. Such loss is great, indeed.
