Dito reveals areas for VisMin rollout on March 8

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) — Dito Telecommunity has revealed the places it will be onboarding new subscribers to signal the start of its commercial rollout in the Visayas and Mindanao.

In a media advisory, the third telco player said its services will be available in the following areas beginning March 8:

Metro Cebu

- Carcar

- Cebu City

- Consolacion

- Danao

- Liloan

- Mandaue

- Minglanilla

- Naga

- San Fernando

- Talisay

Metro Davao

- Panabo

- Tagum

- Carmen

- Davao City

- Digos

"We want our first commercial endeavor ‘no to be isang CSR project, at isang CSR project na specifically will benefit yung mga tao natin sa Mindanao po at Cebu," Tamano said during a virtual briefing on Tuesday.

[Translation: We want our first commercial endeavor to be a CSR (corporate social responsibility) project, one that will specifically benefit our people in Mindanao and Cebu.]

Tamano clarified this is their first commercial step officially, adding they will not be pre-selling any SIM cards to interested subscribers.

The telecommunications network owned by Davao businessman Dennis Uy earlier announced it will first roll out activities in the Visayas and Mindanao, then nationwide by June.

The announcement comes after Dito passed its first technical audit. The independent audit revealed its average connectivity is at 85.9 megabits per second (mbps) for 4G and 507.5 mbps for 5G, way above its promised minimum 27 mbps of mobile internet speeds on its first year of operation.

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Despite the audit's findings, Tamano said they still want to manage public expectations, and emphasized their commitment to government is the average speed of 27 Mbps.

The Dito executive likewise thanked fellow telco players PLDT Inc., Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom as talks with them regarding interconnectivity deals for their subscribers went well.

"I think ito po’y isang ehemplo na yes, sabihin na nating competitors tayo sa market, pagalingan tayo ng service — and it’s good to have competition para gumanda yung mga presyo, gumanda yung serbisyo — but at the same time there are areas where we can participate and we can partner," Tamano said.

[Translation: I think this is one example of yes, we are competitors in the market, we attempt to outperform each other in our services — and it’s good to have competition so that prices and services will improve — but at the same time there are areas where we can participate and we can partner.]

Dito earlier announced it has inked such agreements with other networks ahead of its rollout.