The long-awaited third player in the Philippine telecommunications industry is now a reality. Dito Telecommunity, the new name of the Mislatel consortium, has officially received its license to operate from President Rodrigo Duterte.
President Duterte personally handed over the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) to Mislatel chairman Dennis Uy in a short ceremony at the Malacañang Palace on Monday.
“The entry of this Mislatel Consortium – assuming that it complies with this commitment – is indeed a milestone in our efforts to provide fast, reliable, secure, and more affordable telecommunication services to the public,” Duterte said.
Dito Telecommunity promised to deliver Internet speeds of 27 Mbps during the first year of operation and 55 Mbps in its second year, making it comparable to Internet connection speeds in Singapore. The company plans to spend ₱279 billion in the next few years.
Should the company fail to fulfill its commitments, it will forfeit a ₱25 billion bond and lose the frequencies allocated to it by the government, subject to a six-month grace period.
Dito Telecommunity is composed of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Udenna Corporation, Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corporation, and China Telecom. The consortium was declared the third telco after protracted bidding last November 2018.
The new third player expects to start pilot testing in November and begin commercial operations in the second quarter of 2020.
With technical backing and expertise from China Telecom, there’s little doubt that Dito Telecommunity will be a successful player in the Philippine telecommunications industry. Will Dito Telecommunity finally provide the fast, world-class Internet that Filipinos have long been yearning for?
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