MANILA — DITO Telecommunity has announced it has recorded 13 million subscribers as of October this year.

DITO Chief Executive Officer Eric Alberto said this puts the country’s ‘third telco player’ with a 12 percent market share and he eyes to hit profitability in a few years’ time.

Alberto announced this at the celebration marking the telco’s passing of its fifth and final technical audit.

The series of independent audit was among the conditions given to DITO when it got the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity in 2019.

DITO has surpassed the audit in terms of nationwide coverage and minimum average data speed.

Commissioner Ella Blanca Lopez of National Telecommunications Commission attended the event and she welcomed DITO’s milestone adding that having more players in the telco space can be good for the country.

“These results clearly reflect DITO’s commitment to meeting and exceeding regulatory requirements while contributing meaningfully to the development of digital infrastructure in the Philippines,” she said.

Alberto said their entry to the market has challenged the duopoly of Globe and Smart and has improved overall telco services because of competition. Prices, he said, also went down.

“Having true competition in the market goes down to the benefit of the consumers. Internet speeds have gone up from last five years… Prices have really come down,” he said.

Alberto is optimistic that the telco can breakeven its EBITDA by the end of 2025. Having spent a billion US dollars a year, he eyes profitability for the company in a few years’ time.

“Over the next year, ambition is to be EBITDA positive all the way leading to our the next three to four year plan by 2028, ambition to get ourselves profitable,” he said.

DITO officials now assert that despite passing the final technical audit, work doesn’t stop for them. They plan to further expand their reach to remote areas in the country, as well as continuously improve connection and speed.