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Dito Telecommunity

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Dito Telecommunity
FormerlyMindanao Islamic Telephone Company (1998–2019)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedDavao City, Philippines
April 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₱2.3 billion (2021)
Increase PH₱2 billion (2021)
Owner
ASN
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 DITO CME Holdings Corporation, a subsidiary of the Udenna Corporation which is owned by Davao businessman Dennis Uy, and China Telecommunications Corporation, a state-owned enterprise of the government of mainland China and 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] It offers commercial wireless services through its 4G LTE, and LTE-A networks, with 5G currently being deployed in key locations in the Philippines. As of August 2023, DITO's total mobile subscriber base stands at 7.74 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

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Early years as Mislatel

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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

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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.[14] Mislatel became a joint-consortium between Udenna Corporation, its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics, and the Chinese state-owned and 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

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Dito Telecommunity logo (2019–2020)
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][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]

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 (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, call 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 built 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 interconnection deal on February 24, 2021.[29]

Start of operations

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DITO began its commercial operations on March 8, 2021, in 15 selected areas in Visayas and Mindanao (particularly in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao).[30][11] The company decided to focus on the rollout of its mobile services first,[31] and offered 4G LTE before moving to 5G technology in 2021.[19][3]

Dito Telecommunity workers selling SIM cards at temporary tent-shops at Glorietta Park, Baliwag, Bulacan in early 2022

From April to May 2021, DITO expanded its services to select areas in Luzon provinces (initially in five provinces covering a total of 18 cities and municipalities) [32] and in Metro Manila.[33] On May 18, 2021, President Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11537, renewing DITO's license for another 25 years and granting the company a franchise to construct, establish, install, maintain and operate wire and/or wireless telecommunications systems in the Philippines.[34][35][36] A few days later, 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]

On February 28, 2022, DITO launched its pilot broadband in Metro Manila.[39]

As of February 14, 2024, the service is currently available in 61 out of 82 provinces in the country: 31 in Luzon, 12 in Visayas, and 18 in Mindanao.[40][41]

On February 27, 2024, DITO obtained the Rated #1 Mobile Network place in the Philippines at the Ookla Speedtest Awards 2023 from CEO Stephen Bye during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It achieved a rating of "3.6 in based on comprehensive data collected from July 1 to July 31, 2023,"Ookla said.[42]

In Opensignal's April report, on internet speed contest, DITO outplaced Smart Communications and Globe Telecom in the first quarter, with a download speed of 32 Mbps. It is also now the fastest operator for 5G, averaging 302.9 Mbps as against Smart’s 143.3 Mbps. In the reliability experience of subscribers, it further scored 835 out of 1,000 to breaking Smart’s 771 and Globe’s 748.[43]

In October, Dennis Uy, in partnership with Huawei offered a home network powered by 5G RedCap Wi-Fi to reach 100 Mbps.[44]

Subscribers

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Before the implementation of the SIM Registration Act, DITO had 14 million subscribers in 2022, exceeding the 12-million target subscriber base.[45] On July 30, 2023, DITO registered 7,740,346 subscribers after unregistered SIM cards were deactivated by virtue of the SIM Registration Act.[46] As of October 9, 2024, Dito subscribers reached 13 million across the country.[47]

Controversies

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Complaint against Globe Telecom and Smart Communications

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On August 8, 2022, the company 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".[48][49]

On August 9, 2022, Globe Telecom has asked the National Telecommunications Commission to pay the interconnection penalty of ₱622 million to DITO for "breach of agreement".[50]

Complaint against ARTA

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In 2022, DITO Chief Administrative Officer Adel Tamano filed a complaint accusing five former officials of the Anti-Red Tape Authority, including Director General Jeremiah Belgica, of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3018) for giving preferential treatment to Now Telecom in a dispute over frequencies.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires, in an order dated October 25, 2022, signed on March 3, 2023, and only publicly released in July, convicted the five of grave misconduct, dismissing them from service, cancelling their civil service eligibility and retirement benefits, and barring them from holding public office.[51][52]

Ownership

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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

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Frequencies used by DITO Telecommunity
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 TDD C band

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 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, archived from the original on January 16, 2023, retrieved September 24, 2022
  2. ^ a b c d "Congress OKs Mislatel's transfer to Dennis Uy-China Telecom group". CNN Philippines. May 23, 2019. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Rivas, Ralf (February 20, 2020). "DITO Telecom services available by March 2021". Rappler. Retrieved February 24, 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. July 8, 2019. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Balinbin, Arjay L. (July 8, 2019). "Mislatel to rebrand as 'DITO Telecommunity' after getting license". BusinessWorld. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d Parrocha, Azer (July 8, 2019). "PRRD hands Mislatel Consortium permit to operate as 3rd telco". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  7. ^ "DITO.PH | DITO CME Holdings Corp. Company Profile & Executives - WSJ". www.wsj.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "DITO CME Approves UDENNA CME Share Swap". Udenna Group. November 9, 2020. Archived from the original on June 26, 2021. 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. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  10. ^ Marasigan, Lorenz S. (January 8, 2021). "DITO all set for month-long technical audit". BusinessMirror. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Fenol, Jessica (March 8, 2021). "DITO now available in Visayas, Mindanao; will be in NCR 'in a few weeks'". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  12. ^ Piad, Tyrone Jasper C. (August 7, 2023). "Telco unfazed by SIM card purge". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  13. ^ "Dito Telecom hits 1M subscribers, announces free 1GB data". GMA News Online. June 16, 2021. Archived from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  14. ^ "A quick look at the three firms that submitted bids to be third telco". The Philippine Star. November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  15. ^ Fernandez, Butch (November 8, 2018). "With 3rd player, Poe sees telecom reforms". BusinessMirror. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  16. ^ "Senate approves Mislatel transfer of ownership to Dennis Uy, China Telecom consortium". ABS-CBN News. February 6, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  17. ^ "Mislatel consortium finishes on step towards operation". BusinessWorld. June 14, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  18. ^ Camus, Miguel (January 31, 2019). "Mislatel Consortium eyes permit to operate by July". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  19. ^ a b "DITO pushes back market rollout to March 2021". CNN Philippines. February 21, 2020. Archived from the original on February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  20. ^ a b "From Mislatel to DITO, why the name change?". ABS-CBN News. July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  21. ^ Medilo, Luis Reginaldo (July 9, 2019). "Mislatel Consortium Gets License to Operate, Rebrands as Dito Telecommunity". Tech Pilipinas.
  22. ^ Rivas, Ralf (September 6, 2019). "DITO Telecom campus to rise in Clark Global City". Rappler. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  23. ^ "Udenna Land Inc. and DITO break ground in Clark Global City". BusinessMirror. April 13, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  24. ^ Marasigan, Lorenz (October 4, 2019). "DITO Telecom inks deals with Chavit, SkyCable". BusinessMirror. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  25. ^ "Third telco DITO says investments to exceed $6-B plan". ABS-CBN News. November 4, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  26. ^ 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.
  27. ^ "Dito Telecom passes 1st technical audit —NTC". GMA News Online. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  28. ^ "PLDT, DITO sign interconnection deal for fixed, wireless subscribers". ABS-CBN News. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  29. ^ "Globe inks interconnection deal with DITO for mobile calls, SMS". ABS-CBN News. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  30. ^ "No K-Pop endorsers for Dito's March 8 rollout in VisMin, available nationwide by June". cnn. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  31. ^ Cordero, Ted (March 2, 2021). "DITO to offer broadband services in 2022". GMA News Online. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  32. ^ Fenol, Jessica (April 16, 2021). "DITO expands to Luzon, adds service in 21 more cities". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  33. ^ Rey, Aika (May 17, 2021). "Dito Telecommunity now in Metro Manila". Rappler. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  34. ^ 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”, archived from the original on October 19, 2021, retrieved August 2, 2022
  35. ^ Aguilar, Krissy (May 18, 2021). "Duterte grants 3rd telco Dito Telecommunity a 25-year franchise". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  36. ^ Parrocha, Azer (May 18, 2021). "Duterte renews DITO Telecommunity franchise for 25 more years". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  37. ^ Rey, Aika (May 27, 2021). "Nokia bags 5G deal with Dito Telecommunity". Rappler. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  38. ^ "DITO taps M Lhuillier to bring products to more customers". ABS-CBN News. June 29, 2021. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  39. ^ "Telco DITO pilots 5G fixed wireless broadband in Metro Manila". BusinessWorld. March 1, 2022. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  40. ^ "Network Coverage - DITO Telecommunity". DITO Telecommunity. June 12, 2021. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  41. ^ "Network Coverage". Dito Telecommunity. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  42. ^ "DITO is the Philippines' #1 Mobile Network at Ookla Speedtest Awards". Rappler. March 25, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  43. ^ Rosales, Elijah Felice (April 30, 2024). "Dito ends Smart's streak as Philippines fastest operator". The Philippine Star. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  44. ^ "Dennis Uy's DITO partners with Huawei". bilyonaryo.com. October 18, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  45. ^ Balinbin, Arjay (December 14, 2022). "DITO Telecommunity aims to double its subscriber base to 28M in 2023". BusinessWorld. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  46. ^ Rilloraza, Bryan (August 5, 2023). "SIM registration in the Philippines ends, final tally of subscribers revealed". TechnoBaboy.com. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  47. ^ Cañete, Patrick (October 9, 2024). "DITO now has 13 million subscribers". NoypiGeeks.com. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  48. ^ Esmael, Lisbet (August 8, 2022). "Interconnection woes: DITO accuses Globe, Smart of 'abusing' dominant positions". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  49. ^ Pascual, Jekki (August 8, 2022). "DITO files complaint vs Globe, Smart with PH Competition Commission". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  50. ^ "Globe to NTC: Require DITO to pay ₱622 million interconnection penalties". CNN Philippines. August 9, 2022. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  51. ^ "Ex-ARTA chief found guilty of grave misconduct over DITO complaint". ABS-CBN News. July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  52. ^ "Ombudsman finds ex-ARTA chief guilty of grave misconduct for favoring NOW Telecom". Rappler. July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
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