SEN. Risa Hontiveros yesterday pressed the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to monitor and look into complaints against third telco player Dito Telecommunity and forfeit its P25.7-billion performance bond if it fails to deliver on its promise of better telecommunications service.
Hontiveros said netizens have flooded her social media pages with negative feedbacks about the services of Dito, ranging from intermittent signal, sim card incompatibility with many phone models and slow internet connection.
Dito, previously known as Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, is the country’s third telco player. It is a joint consortium between businessman Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp. and China Telcom. President Duterte approved its 25-year franchise last week. It launched its services in Metro Manila earlier this month.
Hontiveros said Dito committed to deliver 27 megabits per second and up to 50 Mbps of internet speed in its first year of operation, and could cover 84 percent of the population within five years.
“If it cannot step up, the government can very well claim the billions of pesos in performance bond when we want. The money may be better off used for our health and economic needs in this pandemic,” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros voted “no” to the approval of Dito’s franchise, saying that since the telco is partly owned by China, it is a threat to national interest, more so now that China has been aggressive in its territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea.
She said China may use this as leverage against the Philippines when it comes to disputes in the WPS.
Hontiveros has consistently warned that crucial infrastructures in the country risks being taken over by foreign investors if the proposed 100 percent foreign ownership of public utilities, as included in Senate Bill 2094, is approved in Congress.
“If foreigners are allowed 100 percent ownership of our public utilities, it will pave the way for China to own and have full control of crucial infrastructure in the country. We have vital national security interests that should never be compromised,” Hontiveros said as the Senate started plenary debates on SB 2094, which seeks to introduce amendment to the Public Service Act.
Hontiveros also noted that national security concerns on existing public utilities have yet to be resolved. Among these concerns is China’s 40-percent stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and in Dito Telecommunity.
