It is now less than a week left before the company that has been empowered by the government to become the country’s third major telecom provider will begin offering its services commercially. Dito Telecommunity, a consortium between Davao City-headquartered Udenna Corporation and China Telecom under the former’s chairman and CEO Dennis Uy, was mandated to provide unprecedented communication speeds over the internet to compete with telecom giants PLDT and Globe Telecom. Considering where in the country its parent company is based on, Dito has key areas selected in the Visayas and Mindanao for launching their communications services starting next Monday.

According to CNN Philippines, Dito Telecommunity has outlined which “Vis-Min” areas in the Philippines will be the initial launch rollout of their telecom provider outside of Metro Manila. Not surprisingly, they are the metropolitan areas of Cebu and Davao, the latter being the HQ city of Dito’s parent company Udenna Corporation. The third PH telco issued a media advisory to indicate the segments of Metro Cebu and Metro Davao will be the first to subscribe to Dito mobile network and internet starting this March 8.

To wit, here is the breakdown of Dito’s Visayas and Mindanao rollout. In Metro Cebu, they will open at Cebu City, Carcar, Consolacion, Danao, Liloan, Mandaue City, Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando and Talisay. For Metro Davao the rollout will cover the cities of Davao, Digos, Tagum and Panabo, and the municipality of Carmen to start. Dito will focus on Vis-Min for the first three months of its operation following launch, with their network going fully nationwide starting in June, when areas in Metro Manila and Luzon will also begin coverage.

The government-approved third telco had recently completed an audit on its technical capabilities just before announcing their Vis-Min rollout next week. Its results have been very promising, considering that Dito Telecommunity has a bond-backed promise to deliver fast mobile internet speeds with its launch that would give Globe or PLDT pause. Minimum speed on Dito’s first operational year is supposed to be 27mbps; the audit clocked the actual speed at an even faster 85.9mbps and 507.5mbps, for 4G and 5G networks respectively. Perhaps once interested customers in Metro Cebu and Davao begin subscribing to Dito’s services, their true capabilities will be put to the test for their veteran rivals and the country to see clearly.

Image courtesy of GIZGUIDE