DITO Telecommunity Corp. has completed its fifth and last independent network audit, investing over P250 billion and surpassing the required minimum average broadband speed with 85 megabits per second (Mbps).
“We successfully passed our fifth and final independent audit, achieving over 86 percent population coverage and delivering impressive speeds of far surpassing the government’s 55 Mbps minimum hurdle requirement,” Eric Alberto, DITO chief executive officer, said during his speech at the DITO Pasasalamat event in Makati.
Under its five-year commitment with the government as a new telco, DITO had to invest P257 billion, expand its network coverage to 84 percent of the Philippine population and deliver a minimum average internet speed of 55 Mbps.
Rodolfo Santiago, DITO chief technology officer, said the company has exceeded its commitments, with its minimum average broadband speeds at 92.87 Mbps for its fourth generation (4G) network and 587.70 Mbps for 5G.
“We are confident that DITO will continue to reach greater heights. It will always be because of the strategic decision we made at the onset, our purposeful decision and ability to stay ahead of the curve with the cutting-edge technology and agile infrastructure,” Santiago said.
Meanwhile, Alberto emphasized that since the entry of DITO, the telco industry has made significant improvements on the internet speed and in further lowering the cost of mobile internet.
“The industry needed a shake-up, and since our entry, the results have been undeniable,” he said.
“Back in 2017, the Philippines ranked 100th globally in download speeds, averaging just 10 Mbps according to Ookla. Today, we’ve climbed to 81st place, with the country’s average internet speed now at 23 Mbps. This improvement is led by DITO, with mobile broadband speeds of over 90 Mbps for 4G, and over 580 Mbps for 5G,” Alberto added.
He also said the company’s entry has led to more affordable connectivity, cutting internet costs dramatically.
“In 2015, the price of data stood at $11 per GB; by 2022, we had reduced it over 20-fold to just $0.52 per GB,” Alberto said.
This transformation is a testament to the positive impact of healthy competition and the undeniable benefits it brings to consumers, DITO pointed out.