Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio Honasan II is "confident" that 3rd major telco Dito Telecommunity can deliver on its promise by July 2020.
In a statement, Honasan said he met with Dito Telecommunity to ask for updates on its initial commitments for the July deadline.
"DICT was concerned about the capability of Dito to fulfill its commitments as July is 6 months away," Honasan said on Wednesday, January 29.
"However, based on our discussions, I am satisfied that given the updates by the 3 top executives, Dito is on its way to deliver on its promise of cheaper and more efficient service to the subscribing public," he added.
According to DICT, the updates were on tower building activities, secured deals on infrastructure development, construction updates on network operations centers, rollout of crucial infrastructure, as well as projected timetables.
Honasan met with Dito chief executive officer Dennis Uy, chief administrative officer Adel Tamano, and chief technology officer Rodolfo Santiago.
"As we have been assuring the public, we are on track to meet our year-one commitment to the government and to the Filipino people to provide world-class telecommunications services," Tamano said.
For its first year of business, Dito promised to provide internet speed of 27 megabits per second (Mbps) on average.
Honasan said he advised the 3rd telco to keep DICT updated, as the department will be monitoring Dito's promised internet speed of 55 Mbps and 84% coverage within the mandated 5-year period.
Dito Telecommunity, formerly Mislatel, is composed of Uy's Udenna Corporation and publicly listed Chelsea Logistics, with Beijing-run China Telecom as its foreign partner. (IN CHARTS: Udenna Corp-China Telecom's promises)
Among its latest partners are China Energy Equipment Company Ltd, Filipino-Malaysian consortium Zeal Power Construction and Development Corporation, Lopez-led Sky Cable, and Chavit Singson's LCS Holdings. (READ: From rivals to partners: Chavit Singson teams up with Dennis Uy for 3rd telco)
It committed to spend a whopping P257 billion in 5 years, with the bulk or P150 billion to be spent during the 1st year of rollout.
Source: https://www.rappler.com/business/250505-dict-confident-dito-telecom-rollout-july-2020