Filipino newcomer DITO has been granted an additional six months to complete an obligatory technical audit.
Earlier this week, the Philippines’ incoming third operator stated that due to the current pandemic it expected to miss the 8th July deadline for the audit, which is stipulated by the government under the terms of DITO’s operating licence.
Subsequently, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) instructed the country’s regulator the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to extend DITO’s timeframe for carrying out the inspection.
A statement from DICT read: “In relation to the delay caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the NTC issued a resolution extending the July 2020 technical audit under the CPCN [Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, granted to DITO on 8th July 2019] provisions.”
“Under the current extension, DITO is given within six months to deliver the commitments for the technical audit requirements – that is to provide a speed of 27Mbps to cover 37% of the population.”