Officials of DITO Telecommunity Corporation, the third major telecommunications provider in the country, yesterday clarified that the technical launch as stated in the certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) for July 2020 is on track amidst issues raised in light of the possible negative global effects of COVID-19 on businesses.
This was the statement of DITO Chief Technology Officer Retired Major general Rodolfo Santiago together with DITO Chief Administrative Officer Atty. Adel Tamano during the recent inspection of Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio Honasan to one of the common rooftop tower sites of DITO Telecommunity.
“The COVID 19 issue is a possible cause of any delay that may occur. However we in DITO have enacted measures to ensure that we meet our deadlines,” Santiago said.
He added that they have everything that they need “to build (our) network in time for the July 2020 technical launch that promises 37-percent coverage of up to 27mbps Internet speeds.”
“With this in mind, we in DITO have no cause to invoke force majeure as we have everything that we need in place to comply with our commitments to the government and more importantly to the Filipino people,” Santiago added.
DITO, formerly known as Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. (MISLATEL) is the third major telecommunications provider in the Philippines after it was awarded a CPCN by the National Telecommunications Commission in 2019.
In a recent kapihan with members of the media, both representatives of DITO also outlined the government approved key milestones stated in their commitments to the government to set the record straight on their rollout schedule.
“As stated in the CPCN, the first phone call will be made by the month of May 2020 to prove that our core network is ready. This will be followed by the technical launch scheduled for July 2020 to further test the systems and ensure that we are able to cover 37% of the Philippine population and deliver 27 mbps. This then will be followed by our commercial launch slated for March 2021 or earlier,” Santiago said.
