MANILA – DITO Telecommunity on Monday said it would invest more than initially planned to capture at least 30 percent of the market share in its first 3 years of operations as the country’s third telecommunications player.

DITO, a consortium composed China Telecom and Dennis Uy’s Chelsea Logistics and Udenna Corp, will invest more than the initial $6 billion (P302 billion), DITO chief technology officer Boy Santiago said.

"The DITO Telecommunity resolve has been bolstered by the encouragement they have received especially from the Filipino public that resulted in their commitment to invest more than the initial $6 billion they have earmarked for the project," DITO said in a statement.

The telco recently signed agreements with its contractor-partners and tower providers China Energy Equipment Co. Ltd and the Filipino-Malaysian ZEAL Power Construction and Development Corp, DITO said in a statement.

DITO earlier signed deals with key partners including Luis Chavit Singson's LCS Group for common tower lease and Sky Cable Corp for the utilization of unused fiber-optic cables in Metro Manila.

“We want the Filipino public to know that we are full steam ahead on our roll-out as the critical pieces are already in place, with the help of our partners,” Santiago said.

• 3rd telco DITO inks deal with 2 key partners to support rollout

DITO pledged a minimum speed of 27 mbps in its first year, or an internet connection speeds nearly as fast as Singapore.

Sky Cable Corp is the pay television and broadband arm of ABS-CBN Corp. News.abs-cbn.com is the official news website of ABS-CBN Corp.