AS more and more telecommunications operators in the world are priming for the rollout of 5G wireless technology, President Duterte has been resolute in his desire to fulfill a campaign promise of better telco services in the country. On July 1, 2019, the President swore into office former Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II as secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology. A week later, he witnessed Honasan supervise the awarding of the certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to third telco player Mislatel Consortium, a group led by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy.
In a speech during the awarding ceremony in Malacañang, Duterte said: “The entry of Mislatel Consortium is indeed a milestone in our efforts to provide fast, reliable, secure and more affordable telecommunication services to the public. Let me take this opportunity to pose this challenge to Mislatel: Break the prevailing duopoly in the telecommunications industry and fulfill your commitment to provide better telco services to our people.”
The awarding of the CPCN officially greenlighted the nationwide operation of Mislatel Consortium (composed of Mislatel, Udenna Corp., China Telecom and Chelsea Logistics), which will be renamed Dito Telecommunity Corp. Uy, the founder of Udenna Corp., accepted the CPCN on behalf of Dito Telecommunity Corp., which posted a P25.7-billion performance bond for their commitments as the new major player.
National Telecommunications Commission chief Gamaliel Cordoba, who pushed for lower interconnection fees among the country’s telcos, said public expectations of Dito Telecommunity Corp. seem huge and the stakes are quite high, as the third telco player is required to follow a strict set of rules over a five-year period. “On its very first year, the third telco should be able to service 15 percent of the population—that is, 25 percent of cities, as well as 10 percent of first- and second-class municipalities and 5 percent of third- and fourth-class municipalities,” Cordoba said.
Will Dito Telecommunity Corp. be up to the challenge? In the presence of President Duterte, officials of the new telco player promised to offer 55 Mbps of Internet speed that covers 84 percent of the population in five years. This is much better than the country’s prevailing Internet speed of 5.5 Mbps. Dito Telecommunity Corp. intends to spend P257 billion in infrastructure and service rollout during the period. Initially, it will launch only 4G services and will no longer offer legacy 2G and 3G systems. The plan is to first conduct a pilot user program toward the end of this year to test the network in order to come out with a better and more robust offering.
Although the second-generation and third-generation networks are still used in most parts of the world, the Philippines included, the third telco player is in a good position to ride on the wagon of the fifth-generation networks. Experts say 5G promises lightning-fast speed, incredibly low latency and the capacity to carry massive numbers of connections simultaneously, which will make the existing communication model obsolete.
Dito Telecommunity Corp. said in five years, it will be covering the country with 5G, with speed offerings that are much faster than what is currently being offered. It promises to offer cheaper and faster telco services without having to replicate the paths taken by its established competitors. When this happens, more than a hundred million Filipinos, who have been suffering from slow and expensive Internet services for the longest time, will be the ultimate winner. After all, competition is the best tool to promote consumer well-being.