For a good long while now, the
country in terms of telecommunications services was almost neatly split between
two giants, pioneering PLDT and mobile giant Globe Telecom. The government
thought that was unsporting, so they encouraged businesses in 2018 to bid for
opening a “third telco” to challenge the dual hegemony. Mindanao Islamic
Telephone Company, founded in 1998, was turned into a joint-consortium with
backing from China Telecom, being rebranded into Dito Telecommunity in 2019. It
was thus given two years to build its infrastructure to prepare for a
commercial launch. The deadline date is next month, and investors are
expressing increased interest with them.
CNN Philippines reports that investor optimism has led to rising performance
for Dito Telecommunity’s parent company, DITO CME Holdings, at the stock market
as of Thursday, February 18. This indicates plenty of confidence from investors
that the government-encouraged third telecom provider will be able to establish
itself as serious competition for Globe and PLDT. When the year 2021 started
the share price for DITO CME has gone up by 36%, and for this month alone that
has improved further by 42% according to stock analysts.
"Investors have been buying
up DITO since the start of February in speculation of the firm being able to
successfully roll out its services without any delays this March," notes
equity analyst Anna Corenne Agravio of Regina Capital Development Corp. whose
sentiment is echoed by senior research analyst Japhet Tantiangco of Philstocks
Financial Inc. All eyes are looking at March 8, 2021 when Dito Telecommunity
will officially launch its services, with investors buying into the stock in
hope that it will contribute to assuring success. A technical audit of DITO CME
started back in January, to ensure that it is on track for delivering the
quality service that the national government is expecting of it.
To wit, Dito is promising internet
speeds no lower than 27 Mbps, and that for its first year of commercial
operation that service will cover 37% of the population in the Philippines.
This is a challenge to the reported slower actual speeds offered by the two existing
telecom giants, of which consumer complaints have found a voice in President
Rodrigo Duterte. Dito itself has a major stake in order to deliver that
promise, with P25.7 million performance bond that could be forfeited if the
launch is less than stellar. While the service launch is in March, the first
commercial calls via Dito are slated to be later on in May.
Image courtesy of Rappler
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