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Catching up on delays, Dito aims for a wider network by the end of the year
MANILA, Philippines – The third largest telecommunications provider in the Philippines intends to build more towers this year, enough to cover nearly half the population once the company goes commercially online in March.
“We expect more than 2,000 by the end of 2020. Hopefully we can achieve this so that we can offer broader coverage to the public,” Rodolfo Santiago, CTO of Dito Telecommunity, told reporters in an online briefing.
At that level, Santiago said that Dito can safely cover between 47% and 49% of the population, well above the 37% required by regulations in its first year. As of October 28, the Chinese telecommunications company has directly built 1,532 towers across the country.
These towers are on top of cell sites established separately by companies involved in the tower construction business and operated by Dito, whose number was not disclosed.
That said, Dito’s own building already represented a breakthrough for the Dennis Uy-led company that missed its original technical launch last July due to closures that disrupted business plans. At that time, Dito had only completed around 300 towers, prompting the company to request a 6-month extension to meet commitments.
During a technical launch, now rescheduled for January, regulators will examine whether Dito complies with the speed and coverage required under the authorizations that allowed the telco to operate. During the first of the five years of monitoring, the targets are set at a speed of at least 27 Mbps and a population coverage of 37%, easily surpassed by 2,000 towers with a coverage of 49% if that materializes by the end of the year. .
For the second year, the commitment was 55 Mbps and coverage of 51%. “So we only need an additional coverage of 2 to 4%. That’s for sure around 2,200 towers (and) we’ll cover the 51% minimum. We wanted to achieve that margin, that’s very safe. We are confident of passing our technical audit for next year, ”said Santiago.
Adel Tamano, managing director, said in the same briefing: “It really bodes well that we will pass our technical audit.”
For speed, Santiago reiterated that Dito’s towers are using 4G by default, adding that 5G towers are also being rolled out.
Duterte factor?
It was not clear how construction of the towers was accelerated, except that Santiago said President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to speed up permitting last July “helped a lot.”
At the same time, however, Santiago admitted that there is still a “significant” bureaucracy in obtaining permits, especially when it comes to environmental and safety clearances, which is understandable.
“For example, for the CAAP permit, you can’t really build towers that would interfere with the flight path of the plane, that still remains. But there are some local permit requirements that are no longer required, ”said Santiago, from the aviation regulator.
Duterte himself was instrumental in Dito’s entry after he lobbied agencies for a new player to challenge the existing duopoly, Globe Telecom Inc. and PLDT Inc. The accelerated bidding saw the company led by Dennis Uy, and his partner. China Telecom Inc., as winners. .
But laying the groundwork is only part of the job. Tamano also said that the company has begun to build stores in shopping centers, while more than doubled the workforce to 626 as of October 26, 300 on September 17 last. Sales support and customer support services are also being developed.
SIM cards are already available, but all of these won’t be rolled out until Dito is online for the public in July. “We have to prepare for the complete package,” Tamano said.
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