The country's third telco, DITO Telecommunity, is currently ironing out issues on phone compatibility, speed, and signal coverage.
“We are continuously working with handset manufacturers to certify and test more DITO-ready phones with 4G VoLTE and 5G technology," according to DITO Chief Administrative Officer Atty Adel Tamano in a statement issued today (May 26).
Given the limited frequencies provided by the government, the telco decided to do a leapfrog in terms of technology and just focus on 4G and 5G.
However, this means that users using older phones cannot access DITO's service.
Todate, DITO lists only 113 handset models compatible with its service.
These are 27 handsets made by Vivo; 17, Huawei; 16, Oppo; 14, Samsung; 9 each by MyPhone, Cherry Mobile and RealMe; 7, Tecno; 1 each by Xiaomi and Infinitix.
"Certain older phone models would really not be able to maximize the full potential of the next gen technology DITO has to offer – like providing high-definition voice calls ” Tamano reasoned.
And while DITO now covers more than the mandated 37 percent of the population, "There is still a long journey ahead of us. We cannot guarantee service in areas which are not yet officially covered by DITO,” he cautioned.
Furthermore, "There are pocket areas within the covered cities and municipalities that may experience challenges in service as DITO continues to make network enhancements," Atty. Tamano clarified.
Finally, “We wish to inform the Fpublic that network optimization continues to happen in DITO-covered areas, as well as continuous expansion in other areas to bolster our coverage and capacity, and ensure that signal and speed live up to the expectation and demand.”