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Dito Telecommunity

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Dito Telecommunity
FormerlyMindanao Islamic Telephone Company (1998–2019)
Company typePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedApril 19, 1998; 26 years ago (1998-04-19)[1][2]
Headquarters
Udenna Tower, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila
,
Philippines[3]
Area served
Philippines
Key people
ProductsCall and Text messaging services, Mobile internet
RevenueIncrease PH₱100.38 million (2021)
Increase PH₱100.45 million (2021)
Owner
Websitewww.dito.ph

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 Holdings Corporation), and Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation, a parent company of China Telecom.[8]

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 September 22, 2021, Dito's total mobile subscriber base reached 3 million[12][13] and eyeing for 6 million subscribers by the end of 2021.[14] Dito will give out a free data allocation of 1 gigabyte for each subscriber as it hit a million customers three months after its official rollout.[15]

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

Further information: 2018 Philippine third telecommunications provider bidding

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.[16] 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][17] 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.[18][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.[19][20]

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][21]

Relaunch as Dito

President Rodrigo Duterte awards the company its Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.

On July 8, 2019, Mislatel was renamed as Dito Telecommunity.[4][5][6][22][23] 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.[22]

Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity issued to the Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. 8 July 2019
Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity of the company.

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 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.[24] Dito began the construction of its campus in April 13, 2021.[25]

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.[26][27]

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.[28] 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 on February 2021.[29] As of September 2020, Dito has completed 859 cell sites out of the planned 1,600 sites that will cover 37% of the population.[28]

On February 23, 2021, Dito and PLDT signed an interconnection deal to enable subscribers from the two companies to communicate in their respective networks.[30] Dito and Globe Telecom also signed an interconnetion deal on February 24, 2021.[31]

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.[32][11] Dito decided to focus on the rollout of its mobile services first.[33] Dito had offered the 4G LTE first before moving to 5G technology in 2021.[21][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.[34]

On May 17, 2021, Dito service became available in Metro Manila.[35] 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.[36][37][38] On May 26, 2021, Dito selected Nokia to deploy its 5G services in Mindanao.[39]

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.[40]

As of October 2021, the service is currently available in 36 out of 81 provinces in the country: 18 in Luzon, six in Visayas and 12 in Mindanao.[41]

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. [42][43]

Ownership

The following 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

Frequencies used by Dito Telecommunity[44]
Frequency Protocol Class Band Number Duplex Mode Common Name
700 MHz
 LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro
4G
 28 FDD APT
2000 MHz
 34 TDD IMT
2100 MHz
 1 FDD
2500 MHz
 41 TDD BRS
3300 MHz
 52 C band
3500 MHz
 NR
5G
 n78 TDD

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Republic Act 8627". April 1998.
  2. ^ a b c d "Congress OKs Mislatel's transfer to Dennis Uy-China Telecom group". CNN Philippines. May 23, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Rivas, Ralf (20 February 2020). "DITO Telecom services available by March 2021". Rappler. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d "Mislatel, now DITO Telecommunity, is a Filipino-Chinese company which got a permit to operate as 3rd telco". CNN Philippines. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Balinbin, Arjay L. (8 July 2019). "Mislatel to rebrand as 'DITO Telecommunity' after getting license". BusinessWorld. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d Parrocha, Azer (8 July 2019). "PRRD hands Mislatel Consortium permit to operate as 3rd telco". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  7. ^ "DITO.PH | DITO CME Holdings Corp. Company Profile & Executives - WSJ". www.wsj.com. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "DITO CME Approves UDENNA CME Share Swap". Udenna Group. November 9, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c De Guzman, Luchi (November 9, 2018). "Udenna-China Telecom wins provisional bid as 3rd telco player". CNN Philippines. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  10. ^ Marasigan, Lorenz S. (January 8, 2021). "DITO all set for month-long technical audit". Business Mirror.
  11. ^ a b Fenol, Jessica (8 March 2021). "DITO now available in Visayas, Mindanao; will be in NCR 'in a few weeks'". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  12. ^ Rey, Aika (4 August 2021). "Dito Telecommunity reaches 2 million users". Rappler. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  13. ^ Cabuenas, Jon Viktor (September 21, 2021). "DITO Telecom hits 3 million subscribers". GMA News Online. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  14. ^ Cordero, Ted (September 9, 2021). "DITO sees 6 million subscribers by end of 2021". GMA News One. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  15. ^ "Dito Telecom hits 1M subscribers, announces free 1GB data". GMA News Online. June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  16. ^ "A quick look at the three firms that submitted bids to be third telco". The Philippine Star. 7 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  17. ^ Fernandez, Butch (8 November 2018). "With 3rd player, Poe sees telecom reforms". BusinessMirror. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  18. ^ "Senate approves Mislatel transfer of ownership to Dennis Uy, China Telecom consortium". ABS-CBN News. February 6, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  19. ^ "Mislatel consortium finishes on step towards operation". BusinessWorld. June 14, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  20. ^ Camus, Miguel (January 31, 2019). "Mislatel Consortium eyes permit to operate by July". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  21. ^ a b "DITO pushes back market rollout to March 2021". CNN Philippines. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  22. ^ a b "From Mislatel to DITO, why the name change?". ABS-CBN News. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  23. ^ Medilo, Luis Reginaldo (July 9, 2019). "Mislatel Consortium Gets License to Operate, Rebrands as Dito Telecommunity". Tech Pilipinas.
  24. ^ Rivas, Ralf (6 September 2019). "DITO Telecom campus to rise in Clark Global City". Rappler. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  25. ^ "Udenna Land Inc. and DITO break ground in Clark Global City". BusinessMirror. April 13, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  26. ^ Marasigan, Lorenz (4 October 2019). "DITO Telecom inks deals with Chavit, SkyCable". Business Mirror. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  27. ^ "Third telco DITO says investments to exceed $6-B plan". ABS-CBN News. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  28. ^ a b Camus, Miguel R. (2020-09-18). "Deflecting Chinese espionage fears, Uy-led DITO sets sights on 2021 start". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  29. ^ "Dito Telecom passes 1st technical audit —NTC". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  30. ^ News, ABS-CBN (2021-02-23). "PLDT, DITO sign interconnection deal for fixed, wireless subscribers". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2021-02-23. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  31. ^ "Globe inks interconnection deal with DITO for mobile calls, SMS". ABS-CBN News. 2021-02-23. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  32. ^ "No K-Pop endorsers for Dito's March 8 rollout in VisMin, available nationwide by June". cnn. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  33. ^ Cordero, Ted (2 March 2021). "DITO to offer broadband services in 2022". GMA News Online. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  34. ^ Fenol, Jessica (16 April 2021). "DITO expands to Luzon, adds service in 21 more cities". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  35. ^ Rey, Aika (May 17, 2021). "Dito Telecommunity now in Metro Manila". Rappler. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  36. ^ "Republic Act No. 11537". May 18, 2021.
  37. ^ Aguilar, Krissy (May 18, 2021). "Duterte grants 3rd telco Dito Telecommunity a 25-year franchise". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  38. ^ Parrocha, Azer (May 18, 2021). "Duterte renews DITO Telecommunity franchise for 25 more years". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  39. ^ Rey, Aika (May 27, 2021). "Nokia bags 5G deal with Dito Telecommunity". Rappler. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  40. ^ "DITO taps M Lhuillier to bring products to more customers". ABS-CBN News. June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  41. ^ "Network Coverage - DITO Telecommunity". DITO Telecommunity. June 12, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  42. ^ News, ABS-CBN (2021-03-02). "Third telco DITO says may offer broadband services next year". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2021-09-04. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  43. ^ Neil (2021-03-02). "DITO may start to offer home broadband services in 2022". BusinessWorld. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  44. ^ "3rd telco to get permit to operate by July 8 —DICT". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
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