MANILA - Third telco DITO Telecommunity nears hitting the 5-million subscriber mark as targeted before the year ends, its parent DITO CME said Thursday.

It currently has footprint on 500 cities and municipalities with over 3,300 towers up and running, DITO CME said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

DITO reached 4 million subscribers in November. It officially began its commercial operations in March this year.

DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano said last month that the company aims to get 5 million subscribers before the end of 2021.

So far, the third major player, which is mounting its network to challenge the duopoly of Globe Telecom and PLDT's Smart Communications, has passed two technical audits.

"In just a short span of time, DITO Telecommunity has been able to quickly roll out its network in order to offer fast, reliable and wide-reaching telecommunication services to the Filipino consumers," DITO CME Chairman Dennis Uy said.

"We are delivering on that commitment," he added.

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The company said it has also laid out over 19,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable.

DITO Telecommunity has a 25-year franchise until 2048.

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