Dito Telecommunity
Dito Telecommunity Corporation (stylized as DITO),[4][5][6] formerly known as Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. or Mislatel[1][2] is a telecommunications company in the Philippines which is also engaged in the business of multimedia and information technology.[7] It is a consortium of Davao businessman Dennis Uy's Udenna Corporation (through its subsidiary Dito CME Holdings Corporation), and Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation, a parent company of China Telecom.[8]
| Formerly | Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company (1998–2019) |
|---|---|
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | Davao City, Philippines April 19, 1998[1][2] |
| Headquarters | Udenna Tower, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila , Philippines[3] |
Area served | Philippines |
Key people | |
| Products | Call and Text messaging services, Mobile internet |
| Revenue | PH₱2.3 billion (2021) |
| PH₱2 billion (2021) | |
| Owner | |
| Website | www |
The consortium is known as the sole winner of the government-sanctioned bidding that would allow the consortium to become the third major telecommunications provider in the Philippines challenging the duopoly of PLDT and Globe Telecom.[9] Dito CME Holdings Corporation (a publicly listed firm also owned by Uy), meanwhile, has an "indirect ownership" in the telco.[8]
Dito Telecommunity began its commercial operations on March 8, 2021.[10][11] As of February 2023, Dito's total mobile subscriber base reached 13.1 million.[12] Dito gave out a free data allocation of 1 gigabyte for each subscriber when it hit a million customers three months after its official rollout.[13]
History
Early years as Mislatel
The Dito Telecommunity's history can be traced back to the establishment of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. (Mislatel), which is enacted by Congressional legislation on April 19, 1998, under Republic Act No. 8627, allowing the franchise to construct, install, establish, operate and maintain a telecommunication system throughout the Philippines.[1][2]
Third major telecommunications provider bid
In 2018, it was announced that Mislatel was one of the telecommunication firms to join the government-sanctioned bidding allowing the winner to become the third major telco provider in the Philippines challenging the duopoly of PLDT and Globe.[14] Mislatel became a joint-consortium between Udenna Corporation, its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics, and Chinese state-owned and a parent company of China Telecom, China Telecommunications Corporation.[9][15] The consortium was finally named as the "provisional third major player" by the NTC, beating out two other firms, Sear Telecom consortium and PT&T in the bidding.[9]
The Senate and the House of Representatives approved the transfer of ownership of Mislatel to the latter's consortium.[16][2] In June 2019, the consortium's stakeholders completed a share-purchase agreement with Mislatel, and were then awaiting their permit to operate, tentatively by July 2019.[17][18]
The consortium paid a ₱25.7 billion performance bond to the government as it committed to provide internet service with a speed of 200 megabits per second to more than a third of the population on its first year of operation.[3][19]
Relaunch as Dito
On July 8, 2019, Mislatel was renamed as Dito Telecommunity.[4][5][6][20][21] Dito was derived from the Filipino word for "here", which is a response to the stakeholders' question on where they plan to set up a firm that would provide a "world class service" with "here" referring to the Philippines, the country where Dito Telecommunity is based in.[20]
At the same date of the announcement of the company's renaming, Dito Telecommunity was granted its permit to operate after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte awarded the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity by the National Telecommunications Commission to its chairman Dennis Uy during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace, Malacañang.[4][5][6]
On September 6, 2019, Dito announced its plans to build its own campus on an 8-hectare (20-acre) lot at Clark Global City. The campus will house the company's own data center and will hold Dito's operational departments, network operations center, servecall center, and regional center. It will also serve as the hub for Dito's research and development in the telecommunications space.[22] Dito began the construction of its campus on April 13, 2021.[23]
In October 2019, Dito signed separate deals with Lopez-owned Sky Cable Corporation and politician Luis Chavit Singson's LCS Group. Under the deal with LCS Group, Dito will lease the shared telco towers that LCS had already build in several areas. While on the other hand of the deal with Sky Cable, Dito will utilize the latter's unused fiber-optic cables in Metro Manila.[24][25]
By March 2020, two months ahead of schedule, the first domestic and international calls from the company's network were made. On July 18, 2020, the company had its technical launch.[26] The technical launch means that the Dito network will be ready for technical audits from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). The company passed its first technical audit in February 2021.[27] As of September 2020, Dito has completed 859 cell sites out of the planned 1,600 sites that will cover 37% of the population.[26]
On February 23, 2021, Dito and PLDT signed an interconnection deal to enable subscribers from the two companies to communicate in their respective networks.[28] Dito and Globe Telecom also signed an interconnetion deal on February 24, 2021.[29]
Start of operations
The company began its commercial operations on March 8, 2021, in select 15 selected areas in Visayas and Mindanao particularly in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.[30][11] Dito decided to focus on the rollout of its mobile services first.[31] Dito had offered the 4G LTE first before moving to 5G technology in 2021.[19][3]
On April 16, 2021, Dito expanded its services to select areas in Luzon provinces, initially in five provinces covering a total of 18 cities and municipalities.[32]
On May 17, 2021, Dito service became available in Metro Manila.[33] On May 18, 2021, President Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11537 which renewed Dito's license for another 25 years. The law granted Dito a franchise to construct, establish, install, maintain and operate wire and/or wireless telecommunications systems in the Philippines.[34][35][36] On May 26, 2021, Dito selected Nokia to deploy its 5G services in Mindanao.[37]
On June 29, 2021, Dito announced that it has partnered with non-banking financial firm M Lhuillier to expand the reach of the former's products and services nationwide.[38]
By 2022, Dito intends to offer high-speed broadband internet service. Additionally, the company has prioritized Mindanao and the Visayas for the commercial launch of their upcoming broadband services.[39][40] But on February 28, 2022, Dito launches its pilot broadband in Metro Manila instead.[41]
As of January 15, 2023, the service is currently available in 56 out of 82 provinces in the country: 31 in Luzon, 10 in Visayas and 15 in Mindanao.[42][43]
Controversies
Complaint against Globe Telecom and Smart Communications
On August 8, 2022, Dito Telecommunity filed a complaint against duopolies Globe Telecom and Smart Communications at the Philippine Competition Commission for an alleged "anti-competitive practices" and "abuse of market dominance".[44][45]
On August 9, 2022, Globe Telecom has asked the National Telecommunications Commission to pay the interconnection penalty of ₱622 million to Dito Telecommunity for "breach of agreement".[46]
Ownership
The following are the stockholders of Dito Telecommunity (as of November 2020):
| Direct | Indirect | % of stake |
|---|---|---|
| Dito Holdings Corporation (Udenna Corporation)[8] | Udenna CME (Dito CME)[8] Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure[8] | 60% |
| China Telecommunications Corporation[4][5][6][8] | 40% | |
Radio frequency summary
| Frequency | Protocol | Class | Band Number | Duplex Mode | Common Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 700 MHz | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | 28 | FDD | APT |
| 2100 MHz | 1 | IMT | |||
| 2500 MHz | 41 | TDD | BRS | ||
| 3500 Mhz | NR | 5G | n78 | C band |
The LTE Carrier Aggregation Combination Bands are LTE B1 (2100 MHz) and LTE B28 (700 MHz) CA_1A_28A.
DITO is the first commercial network in the Philippines to launch 5G in Standalone Mode (SA 5G) and will soon launch Voice over NR (VoNR) Services.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Republic Act No. 8627 (April 19, 1998), An Act Granting the Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. a Franchise to Construct, Establish, Install, Maintain and Operate Wire and/or Wireless Telecommunications Systems in the Philippines, from the original on January 16, 2023, retrieved September 24, 2022
- ^ a b c d "Congress OKs Mislatel's transfer to Dennis Uy-China Telecom group". CNN Philippines. May 23, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ a b c Rivas, Ralf (February 20, 2020). "DITO Telecom services available by March 2021". Rappler. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Mislatel, now DITO Telecommunity, is a Filipino-Chinese company which got a permit to operate as 3rd telco". CNN Philippines. July 8, 2019. from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Balinbin, Arjay L. (July 8, 2019). "Mislatel to rebrand as 'DITO Telecommunity' after getting license". BusinessWorld. from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Parrocha, Azer (July 8, 2019). "PRRD hands Mislatel Consortium permit to operate as 3rd telco". Philippine News Agency. from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ "DITO.PH | DITO CME Holdings Corp. Company Profile & Executives - WSJ". www.wsj.com. from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
- ^ a b c De Guzman, Luchi (November 9, 2018). "Udenna-China Telecom wins provisional bid as 3rd telco player". CNN Philippines. from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ Marasigan, Lorenz S. (January 8, 2021). "DITO all set for month-long technical audit". BusinessMirror. from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
- ^ a b Fenol, Jessica (March 8, 2021). "DITO now available in Visayas, Mindanao; will be in NCR 'in a few weeks'". ABS-CBN News. from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ Mercurio, Richmond (February 9, 2023). . The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
- ^ "Dito Telecom hits 1M subscribers, announces free 1GB data". GMA News Online. June 16, 2021. from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ "A quick look at the three firms that submitted bids to be third telco". The Philippine Star. November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ^ Fernandez, Butch (November 8, 2018). "With 3rd player, Poe sees telecom reforms". BusinessMirror. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ^ "Senate approves Mislatel transfer of ownership to Dennis Uy, China Telecom consortium". ABS-CBN News. February 6, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
- ^ "Mislatel consortium finishes on step towards operation". BusinessWorld. June 14, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ Camus, Miguel (January 31, 2019). "Mislatel Consortium eyes permit to operate by July". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ a b "DITO pushes back market rollout to March 2021". CNN Philippines. February 21, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
- ^ a b "From Mislatel to DITO, why the name change?". ABS-CBN News. July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
- ^ Medilo, Luis Reginaldo (July 9, 2019). "Mislatel Consortium Gets License to Operate, Rebrands as Dito Telecommunity". Tech Pilipinas.
- ^ Rivas, Ralf (September 6, 2019). "DITO Telecom campus to rise in Clark Global City". Rappler. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
- ^ "Udenna Land Inc. and DITO break ground in Clark Global City". BusinessMirror. April 13, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Marasigan, Lorenz (October 4, 2019). "DITO Telecom inks deals with Chavit, SkyCable". BusinessMirror. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
- ^ "Third telco DITO says investments to exceed $6-B plan". ABS-CBN News. November 4, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
- ^ a b Camus, Miguel R. (September 18, 2020). "Deflecting Chinese espionage fears, Uy-led DITO sets sights on 2021 start". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
- ^ "Dito Telecom passes 1st technical audit —NTC". GMA News Online. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ "PLDT, DITO sign interconnection deal for fixed, wireless subscribers". ABS-CBN News. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ "Globe inks interconnection deal with DITO for mobile calls, SMS". ABS-CBN News. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ "No K-Pop endorsers for Dito's March 8 rollout in VisMin, available nationwide by June". cnn. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ Cordero, Ted (March 2, 2021). "DITO to offer broadband services in 2022". GMA News Online. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ Fenol, Jessica (April 16, 2021). "DITO expands to Luzon, adds service in 21 more cities". ABS-CBN News. from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ Rey, Aika (May 17, 2021). "Dito Telecommunity now in Metro Manila". Rappler. from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- ^ Republic Act No. 11537 (May 18, 2021), AN ACT RENEWING FOR ANOTHER TWENTY-FIVE (25) YEARS THE FRANCHISE GRANTED TO MINDANAO ISLAMIC TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC., PRESENTLY KNOWN AS DITO TELECOMMUNITY CORPORATION, UNDER REPUBLIC ACT NO.8627, ENTITLED “AN ACT GRANTING THE MINDANAO ISLAMIC TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC., A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, ESTABLISH, INSTALL, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE WIRE AND/OR WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS IN THE PHILIPPINES”, from the original on October 19, 2021, retrieved August 2, 2022
- ^ Aguilar, Krissy (May 18, 2021). "Duterte grants 3rd telco Dito Telecommunity a 25-year franchise". Philippine Daily Inquirer. from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
- ^ Parrocha, Azer (May 18, 2021). "Duterte renews DITO Telecommunity franchise for 25 more years". Philippine News Agency. from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
- ^ Rey, Aika (May 27, 2021). "Nokia bags 5G deal with Dito Telecommunity". Rappler. from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
- ^ "DITO taps M Lhuillier to bring products to more customers". ABS-CBN News. June 29, 2021. from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
- ^ "Third telco DITO says may offer broadband services next year". ABS-CBN News. March 2, 2021. from the original on September 4, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
- ^ Neil (March 2, 2021). "DITO may start to offer home broadband services in 2022". BusinessWorld. from the original on September 4, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
- ^ "Telco DITO pilots 5G fixed wireless broadband in Metro Manila". BusinessWorld. March 1, 2022. from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ^ "Network Coverage - DITO Telecommunity". DITO Telecommunity. June 12, 2021. from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
- ^ "Network Coverage". Dito Telecommunity. from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- ^ Esmael, Lisbet (August 8, 2022). "Interconnection woes: DITO accuses Globe, Smart of 'abusing' dominant positions". CNN Philippines. from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ Pascual, Jekki (August 8, 2022). "DITO files complaint vs Globe, Smart with PH Competition Commission". ABS-CBN News. from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ "Globe to NTC: Require DITO to pay ₱622 million interconnection penalties". CNN Philippines. August 9, 2022. from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
External links
- Official website