With DITO Telecommunity recently passing its first Technical Audit, the upcoming third telco signed an interconnection deal with PLDT to help out in expanding infrastructure in the country.
Under the signed deal, both PLDT and DITO will construct a transmission facility that will serve as a point of interconnection for their subscibers. The deal also has PLDT establishing and managing the interconnection facility for operating as primary physical interface for both companies.
“It is important for us that we establish this interconnection capability between PLDT-Smart and the customers of DITO as mandated by the NTC, and principally to make sure that our customers are able to communicate,” PLDT CRO and Smart President and CEO Al Panlilio said.
“DITO knew from day 1 that in order for us to deliver our commitment to the Filipino, we needed to work hand-in-hand with the pioneers of the telco industry like PLDT,” Chairman and CEO Dennis Uy said.
The hub should help DITO in delivering its intercarrier requirements and will benefit all fixed and wireless subscribers of PLDT and DITO by enabling them to communicate and connect to all the services needed. The facility is expected to be completed by mid-March, in time for DITO’s commercial launch on March 8 in select areas of Mindanao and Visayas region. As of December, DITO has started doing a pilot run in select areas in Mindanao, and has completed around 1,532 towers as of October last year.
Based on the first technical audit made by KPMG RG Manabat & Co., DITO attainted speeds of 507.5 Mbps for its 5G, 85.9 Mbps for 4G. Do note that those speeds are attained with DITO having no subscribers yet, and its 37.48% coverage (or 8,860 barangays) will cover highly-populated areas. However, the interconnection deal with PLDT should help DITO in expanding its coverage further even to far-flung barangays.
PLDT, for their part, has been investing heavily on expanding its network coverage to businesses and consumers. Â Currently, PLDT has the most expansive fiber optic network in the Philippines, spanning 429,000 kilometers.
