Senator Grace Poe said on Saturday that DITO Telecommunity must first show that it has fulfilled its initial commitments to the government before the Senate grants its bid for a new 25-year franchise.
The Senate Public Services Committee will conduct Monday, December 7, its hearing on the telecommunications company's franchise renewal. DITO's franchise is set to expire in 2023.
"Ngayon, bago natin ibigay 'yang prangkisa na yan, bagama't ito'y nakapasa na sa , sa Senado, kinikilatis natin kung 'yong kanilang mga naipangako...na-deliver ba nila (Now before, we give them that franchise, while it has been approved in the House of Representatives, we, in the Senate, will be scrutinizing if they have delivered their promises)," Poe, committee chairperson, said in an interview over radio DWIZ.
For its first year, DITO committed to cover at least 37 percent of the country's population and deliver a minimum internet speed of 27 Megabits per second (mbps) by July this year.
The telco, however, missed its target due to delays in their construction of cell towers amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns imposed by the government.
The company is supposed to start commercial operations by March 2021.
"Kung hindi nila nagawa ang kanilang mga napangako, eh bakit natin bibigyan ng prangkisa na 25 years ulit (If they were not able to fulfill their promises, then why will be give them another 25-year franchise)?" Poe said.
She reiterated that the government could also forfeit Dito's P25.7-billion performance bond.
"Syempre, gusto ko magtagumpay ang kahit na anong telco na makapagbigay ng serbisyo...pero 'pag di naman nila nagawa 'yon, eh hindi rin naman natin ginagawa ang ating responsibilidad at tungkulin kung ibibigay pa rin natin ang prangkisa sa kanila (Of course, we want any telco to succeed in providing their services...but if they are not able to do it, then we will be remiss of our responsibility and duties if we will give the franchise easily)," Poe said.
Senators, she said, are also expected to raise national security issues with DITO's operations. Forty percent of the consortium is owned by state-run China Telecommunications Corporation.
Poe particularly mentioned DITO's construction of cell towers within military bases.
"Pero ano ngang garantiya natin at sino ang technical na sumusuri dito na Filipino, na magsasabi na tayo talaga ay ligtas laban sa paniniktik ng China or ng ibang bansa (But what is our guarantee, and who is the Filipino technical expert who will say that we are really safe against espionage from China or other countries)," she said.
In the same hearing, Poe said she will also ask the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for its assessment on the performance of the country's telcos.
DITO, formerly Mislatel, was given the legislative authority to operate in May last year.
Congress had authorized the transfer of its control and ownership to Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corporation, Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp., and China Telecommunications.
Its original franchise was granted by Congress in 1998, and is set to expire in 2023.