Dito pushes back market rollout to March 2021

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 21) — Cell phone users eyeing to use Dito Telecommunity's network would have to endure a longer wait, as the company said it would only start commercial services in March next year.

Dito Telecommunity said its target rollout in July would only be a "technical launch."

"The technical launch means that the DITO network will be ready for technical audits from the NTC (National Telecommunications Commission). This is to make sure that we comply to the government-approved number to cover 37 percent of the country’s population," the third telco player said through a disclosure from its sister firm, Chelsea Logistics.

Businessman Dennis Uy met with Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan II last month to give updates on the mobile network's rollout, saying it was on track to meet the July deadline set by government for its "initial commitments" as the third industry player.

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Dito, once named the Mislatel consortium, paid a ₱25.7-billion performance bond to the government as it committed to provide internet service with a speed of 27 megabits per second to more than a third of the population on its first year of operation. The money will be forfeited in favor of the government if Dito fails to meet expectations by July 8, 2020 — exactly a year after Dito secured the license to run a telco business to break the duopoly of Smart and Globe.

The Philippines has an average mobile internet download speed of 7 Mbps and an average upload speed of 2.2 Mbps, international analytics company Opensignal said in a report last May. Dito spokesperson Adel Tamano previously said the company will first offer 4G LTE connectivity before moving to the more advanced 5G technology sometime in 2021.

DITO said it would set up 1,600 cell towers by July, from which the government can test if it can hit its promised service quality. The company earlier claimed it wants to corner 30 percent of mobile subscribers in the Philippines — also called the text capital of the world — in its first three years.