Dito Telecom on track to meet commitments by July 2020 - DICT

Dito Telecommunity Corporation was on track to meet its commitments to the government by  July 9, 2020 - the first year of its operations, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Sunday.

"Sa kanilang report sa amin, nami-meet nila ('yung commitments) at 'yung pagkuha ng site acquisition, ito nga parte ito," DICT Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. said on Super Radyo dzBB news radio.

Dito Telecom, formerly known as the Mislatel Consortium, was declared the new major player (NMP) in the Philippine telecommunications industry by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on November 19, 2018.

Dito was awarded its permit to operate last July 8.

With a minimum speed of 27 megabits per second and capital and operating expenses of P150 billion, the consortium led by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy vowed to achieve a nationwide coverage of 37.03 percent in its first year of operations.

"Ang commitment nila for the first year is 37 percent of our population will be reached by their services, more or less this means around a little less of 3,000 cell sites," explained Rio. "So they are to put up at least 2,500 cell sites in one year before July 9, 2020."

In its fifth year of operations, Dito vowed to attain 84.01 percent nationwide coverage, 55 Mbps minimum speed, and capital and operation expenses of P27 billion.

Just last week, the company inked an agreement with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to build cellular towers inside military camps across the country.
— Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA News