DITO seeks to ‘disrupt’ telco sector

MANILA, Philippines — Third telco player Dito Telecommunity Corp. is poised to offer more affordable internet and mobile services than its competitors once it launches its network early next year, its chief administrative officer Adel Tamano said.

He said while Dito wants to disrupt the market by offering more affordable products, the company does not want to destroy it.

“In India, when (Reliance) Jio first entered the market, it was truly a disruptor. But they did it in a way that actually destroyed the market, because they lowered the prices so much.   It wasn’t good for the telco industry. It was good for the consumers in the short term, but it wasn’t good for the telco industry in the long term,” Tamano said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay virtual forum yesterday.

Tamano said Dito, which is 40 percent owned by China Telecommunications Corp. and 60 percent by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy, has ‘’a bit more of a balanced view.’’

“We want to provide more affordable and simpler options for our consumers, but we are going to do it fairly. We are not going to enter this market with any intention of destroying the market and then in the long term, because the market is destroyed, the other competitors won’t be able to invest,” he said.

“We want to disrupt it. We want to offer more affordable and simpler packages for consumers,” Tamano said.

Dito plans to launch its network commercially by March next year or earlier,  Tamano said.

As of Sept. 13, Dito had 859 out of the 1,300 estimated number of towers needed to achieve government mandated targets of 37 percent population coverage and speed of 27 Mbps by January 2021.