DITO tops P150-B investment commitment

The country's upcoming third telco layer, DITO Telecommunity, has already breached its P150-billion investment commitment to date, Chief Administrative Officer  Adel A. Tamano told reporters in yesterday's (Sept. 17, 2020) virtual briefing.

The telco plans to expand its network by adding 3,500 4G sites and 1,500 base stations.

DITO has started building its base stations and will be "more than ready for its technical audit", he confirmed.

However, the telco has been affected by scams, with spurious realty companies negotiating for lease of properties to be used for DITO cell sites, executives admitted.

Scammers target owners of properties with a minimum of 500 square meters in suitable locations for 30-year leases and dangle P5million upfront payment, on top of monthly rentals.

Now, some landowners do not want to deal with the telco's legitimate vendors because they had previous negotiations with scammers.

And they even think that DITO is the one at fault.

DITO Telecommunity appointed only five duly authorized representatives to assist in site acquisition - Huawei for North Luzon and the National Capital Region, ZTE for South Luzon and the Visayas, Nokia - Huaxin for Mindanao, Udenna Infrastructure Corporation and China Comm Services Philippines.