An official of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said the number of active SIM cards will be reduced after the April 26 deadline to register these.

''We don't expect 100 percent registration of SIM cards because those SIM cards being used for scams will not enter the activation period,'' DICT Undersecretary Anna Mae Lamentillo told dzBB on Saturday.

''We think there will be a drastic reduction (in active SIM) because those being used for scam messages, cyber crimes, kidnappings cannot be used (after April 26),'' she added.

Telecom sources estimate the total number of SIM cards at around 160 million with about 90 percent of these prepaid.

So far, a total of 25.84 percent of subscribers of Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom and DITO Telecommunity Corp. have registered. This amounts to 43, 669, 429 total subscribers who have complied with the SIM registration law. DMS