Video courtesy of PTV

MANILA - DITO Telecommunity on Tuesday said it might start offering broadband service in 2022.

The country's third telco player on March 8 will be available in key areas in Visayas and Mindanao.

"Iyong simula po is mobile services first. Minarapat po namin na i-set up first iyong mobile services. We believe this is iyong pinaka-kailangan po natin at this time," said DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano.

(Mobile services are initially available. We opted to set up the mobile services first. We believe this is what we need most at this time.)

"Ang plano po namin perhaps by next year, mag-o-offer na rin po kami ng broadband services. Meaning po ng broadband is sa bahay," he said in a televised public briefing.

(Our plan is perhaps by next year, we will offer broadband services, too. Broadband means for homes.)

The telco, operated by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy with China Telecom, passed its first technical audit after registering minimum internet speed of 507.5 Mbps for 5G and 85.9 Mbps for 4G, the National Telecommunications Commission had said.

The NTC however also noted that there were no subscribers yet on DITO's network when the technical audit was conducted.

• DITO passes audit: NTC

The new telco covered 37.5 percent of the country's population, reaching 8,860 barangays, the technical audit showed.

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"Naghihingi kami ng kaunting siguro pag-unawa sa publiko kasi mahirap po talagang mag-set up ng network from zero," Tamano said of the telco's initial coverage.

(We are asking for maybe a little patience from the public because it is difficult to set up a network from zero.)

DITO's initial commitment was to provide "near-Singapore" internet speeds of at least 27 Mbps on its first year.

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