During a media briefing Thursday morning, the country’s newest telco player, DITO Telecommunity happily disclosed that it has passed the second government technical audit based on national population coverage and minimum average broadband speeds as stated in the report sent by the National Telecommunications Commission.

“We have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. The results truly express the hard work and dedication exerted by everyone in DITO to ensure faster, more affordable, and world-class connectivity for Filipinos wherever they may be,” according to Atty. Adel Tamano, DITO Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).

Atty. Tamano said that with respect to the calculated National Population Coverage, DITO now covers 52.75% clocked minimum average broadband speeds of 89.13 Mbps and 853.85 Mbps for all 4G and 5G sites, respectively. He further clarified that the regulations surrounding the guidelines of the independent audit were included in the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) of DITO.

“We should bear in mind that RG Manabat was chosen among a list of qualified auditors based on a vetting process set forth in NTC memorandum circular 09-09-2018. The chosen auditing firm reports directly to the NTC. DITO will only be advised of the results through the final report furnished by the NTC,” Atty. Tamano added.

In response to the issue of speed tests conducted by third parties in relation to the government audit, DITO Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Retired Major General Rodolfo Santiago said that the government audit test areas were near point, mid-point, and far point. This method effectively ties the speed test with population coverage.

“We believe that other third-party tests were conducted beyond our far points which have resulted in slower speed readings among other reasons. Note that the number of 4G and 5G sites covered by the technical audit numbered 3094, and 604 respectively,” General Santiago further explained.

Roll Out Updates

As for where DITO is now in terms of its roll-out efforts, the CTO disclosed in the same briefing that it has already a total of 4,384 towers under mobilization, with 3,094 towers integrated, have laid out 18,074 km of land-based fiber optic cable, and have made its presence felt commercially in more than 233 cities since its launch in March of this year.

In terms of commercial availability, DITO last September 3 opened 18 areas and is opening 48 cities more cities this month. The initial 48 are as follows:

03 September 2021:

  1. Bustos, Bulacan 
  2. San Ildefonso, Bulacan   
  3. San Miguel, Bulacan      
  4. Santa Maria, Bulacan     
  5. San Nicolas, Pangasinan 
  6. Candelaria, Quezon       
  7. City of Tayabas, Quezon 
  8. Pagbilao City of Tayabas
  9. San Antonio, Quezon     
  10. Sariaya, Quezon
  11. City of Butuan (capital), Agusan del Norte
  12. Santa Josefa, Agusan del Sur       
  13. Linamon, Lanao del Norte          
  14. Gitagum, Misamis Oriental         
  15. Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental  
  16. Libertad, Misamis Oriental         
  17. Initao, Misamis Oriental 
  18. Alabel (capital), Sarangani

10 September 2021:

  1. Orani, Bataan
  2. San Rafael, Bulacan
  3. Pulilan, Bulacan
  4. Jaen, Nueva Ecija           
  5. Quezon, Nueva Ecija      
  6. Lubao, Pampanga          
  7. Alaminos, Pangasinan    
  8. Bolinao, Pangasinan      
  9. Urdaneta, Pangasinan    
  10. Urbiztondo, Pangasinan 
  11. Bani, Pangasinan           
  12. Bugallon, Pangasinan     
  13. Mangaldan, Pangasinan 
  14. Victoria, Tarlac  
  15. Dumaguete, Negros Oriental      
  16. Valencia, Negros Oriental

17 September 2021:

  1. Norzagaray, Bulacan
  2. Lupao, Nueva Ecija
  3. Dupax Del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya
  4. Laoac, Pangasinan
  5. Dasol, Pangasinan
  6. Aguilar, Pangasinan
  7. Bautista, Pangasinan
  8. Binalonan, Pangasinan
  9. San Jacinto, Pangasinan
  10. Tayug, Pangasinan
  11. Nagcarlan, Laguna
  12. Lemery, Batangas
  13. Maragondon, Cavite
  14. Lucban, Quezon

24 September 2021:

  1. Balagtas, Bulacan
  2. Bacolor, Pampanga
  3. Santa Barbara, Pangasinan
  4. Malasiqui, Pangasinan
  5. Sibulan, Negros Oriental

Phase 2 LuzViMin Submarine Cable Coming Soon

In addition, a surprise announcement was made by General Santiago when he pointed to the phase one completion of the submarine cable link connecting Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao which has in fact been in service since March 2021. He further added that Phase 2 of the project that links Palawan to the rest of the country as well as provides redundancy for the Visayas and Mindanao loop is soon to begin.

“DITO is creating a modern telecommunications infrastructure, a network that does not rely on the existing infrastructure of anyone but by building our very own, not just for the ever-growing subscriber base of more than two point six million, but for the Filipino people,” concluded General Santiago.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert “Bob” Reyes is a technologist, an ICT Consultant and Tech Speaker, a certified Google IT Support Specialist, and an Open Source advocate representing the global non-profit Mozilla (makers of Firefox) in the Philippines. Bob is a Technology Columnist for the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation and an aviation subject matter expert contributor for Spot.PH.

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