3rd telco signs deal with Sky Cable, Chavit's firm for infra rollout

Third telco Dito Telecommunity Corp. has signed agreements with Sky Cable Corp. and Narvacan, Ilocos Sur Mayor Luis Chavit Singson's LCS Holdings Inc. to support its telecommunications infrastructure rollout.

Under its deal with Sky Cable, Dito will utilize the Lopez-led firm's unused fiber-optic cables within Metro Manila.

On the other hand, the third telco signed a memorandum of agreement with LCS Holdings for the lease of common towers that the Singson-led group will put up in key areas of the country.

“These two deals allow Dito to tap reliable local partners and their existing telecommunication infrastructure assets to support our network rollout, without having to build everything from scratch; done to ensure that we soon deliver on our promise of faster, more affordable, and most importantly secure internet connectivity for our countrymen,” Dito chief administrative officer Adel Tamano said in a statement on Thursday.

Dito, formerly known as Mislatel Consortium, was awarded its permit to operate as the third teleco player on July 8, 2019 after it posted a P25.7-billion performance bond.

The company is targeting to be commercially operational by the end of the year or the first quarter of next year.

“We are serious in our commitment and will be breaking ground within the next few days for the first of many cellular sites for Dito Telecommunications in cooperation with the LCS Group," Tamano said.

The agreement with Sky Cable was signed between Tamano and Sky Cable head of Enterprise Business Roderick Liwanag and head of Strategic Relations Efren Arayata.

Meanwhile, the deal with LCS Holdings was signed between Tamano and LCS Holdings vice chairman Richelle Singson-Michael.

To recall, Singson questioned Mislatel's qualification as third telco since one of the consortium's member Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co. has contractual obligations with Digiphil, which is a part of SEAR Telecom Group.

Sear Telecom - a consortium of LCS group and TierOne - participated in the third telco bid but was disqualified by the National Telecommunications Commission for failing to comply with the P700-million participation security.

“LCS, despite conceding to Dito, in the third telco bid, is still very passionate in fulfilling its commitment to the public in improving the quality of telecommunication services, with the underserved first in mind. Together with our partners, we will go full blast on manufacturing and rolling out common towers and other telecommunication infrastructure in the country," Singson, who chairs LCS, said.

Likewise, LCS CEO Aaron Tan said the group's partnership with Dito “signifies the beginning of many other partnerships to service the country."

"We also look forward to working with the other Mobile Network Operators and Corporations who may be interested to co-locate at our strategic sites," Tan said.

Dito is consist of Davao businessman Dennis Uy's Udenna Corp., its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp., and state-owned China Telecom Corp. Ltd. —Ted Cordero/LBG, GMA News