DITO Telecommunity Corp. said Tuesday it is on track to meeting its 12 million subscriber base target by the end of the year.
The company said it exceeded the 9-million subscriber mark in June, covering more than 600 cities and municipalities.
DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano expressed hope the market would witness full-blown competition among telecom operators once DITO covers 70-percent of the population in July as part of its mandate stipulated in the certificate of public convenience and necessity given by the National Telecommunications Commission in 2019.
“We are confident that DITO can go head-to-head with the other two major players as penetrating more areas means we capture more share in the market. In the process, Filipino consumers will benefit from this increased competition, with companies racing to provide the best connectivity and the best value for services,” Tamano said.
Ookla’s latest report showed DITO already made a dent in the dominance of its main competitors, as the Philippines is a “duopoly no more”.
DITO’s presence, combined with regulatory changes, spurred investments across major telecom players’ network infrastructure, benefitting millions of Filipino consumers with boosted 4G and 5G connections.
The report noted that before the third telco’s commercial launch, the Philippines’ 4G median download speeds only stood at 11.15 megabits per second in the first quarter of 2021.
The figure subsequently improved to 15.53 Mbps in the first three months of 2022, almost a year after DITO started its operations.
Ookla also said DITO―despite being a new entrant―already had the best 4G availability in the January to March period, scoring 91.2 percent.
“This is just the beginning. With our commitment to delivering quality telco services nationwide, Filipino consumers can expect more from DITO as we remain committed to continue our investment in network upgrades and expansion,” Tamano said.
DITO earmarked P50 billion in 2022 to reach more Filipinos and aims to be commercially available in more than 840 areas nationwide.