ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro wants the House of Representatives to look into the operations of Dito Telecommunity, the third telecommunications player in the country, for allegedly failing to make good promises aimed at improving telecommunicaitons services.
Castro said that if this is found to be correct, Dito should be meted a penalty under the provisions of the franchise granted by Congress.
“Nag- oppose kami diyan sa Dito telco na ‘yan dahil before pa aprubahan ang another 25 years franchise niyan, wala namang natupad sa mga promise nito, (We opposed Dito before its franchise for another 24 years was approved, it has failed to fulfill its promises)” said Castro.
“At isa pa, controlled ito ng China Telecom na maaaring (One thing more, it is controlled by China Telecom and can be) threat sa national security,” she said.
Castro said that if reports of Dito’s broken promises are accurate, a congressional inquiry could be imperative.
It was noted that Dito had pledged to provide services to 37% of the population on its first year of operation.
Castro said this had not been fulfilled by the new Telco since it has not even extended services to 37% if the 2021 data on population is to be considered. The claim that it has reached 37 % of the population was based on the 2015 population data which does not include nine million more citizens.
It was reported that Dito also promised to maintain an average minimum internet speed of 27 MBPS. However, a test conducted by Rappler in Manila showed it only had 3 MBPS upload and 4 MBPS download speeds.
Castro wants to confirm reports that Dito had only set up 1,600 cell towers in the country based on the technical audit of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in January 2021. This is in stark contract to its pledge to construct 2,500 cell towers.
Aside from this, Dito was granted franchise to provide services to the underprivileged and marginalized sectors of society. However, reports that reached the lawmaker showed the third telco is anti-poor because it rolled out in highly urbanized cities like VisMin and Metro Manila. To avail of Dito’s services, the poor have to buy 4G handsets.
Castro said Dito would have been a big help, specially to distance learners, if only it had fulfilled its promises.