Poe to Dito: Performance before franchise renewal

MANILA, Philippines — Aspiring third player Dito Telecommunity must first prove its capability to deliver satisfactory telecommunications services to Filipinos before its franchise – which expires in 2023 – is renewed by Congress, Sen. Grace Poe said yesterday.

Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on public services, issued the statement as Dito seeks the early renewal of its franchise.

She said Dito executives cannot pressure senators to grant its request on the pretext that the company needs a fresh franchise to secure investors.

Dito’s application comes amid concerns over the fact that the state-owned China Telecom has a 40-percent stake in the company and that it needs financial and technical capability to deliver on its commitments to creditors and possible customers.

“What Dito wants is for their franchise to be renewed this early. But for me, service first before renewal,” the senator told dzBB in Filipino. “Let’s scrutinize first if they can meet their promise of faster internet, and the barangays they promised to connect, at reasonable prices.”

“They’ve not proven anything yet so why will we grant them the franchise (renewal) immediately?” she said.

Poe said the Senate will not just rely on the evaluation of government agencies, like the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), when Dito is yet to be subjected to a technical audit in January 2021 and supposedly set to start commercial operations next March.

The company – owned by businessman Dennis Uy, a known campaign contributor of President Duterte – has posted a P23-billion bond that will be forfeited in favor of the government if it fails to meet its commitments.

During the hearing last week into the franchise renewal application, Dito chief administrative officer Adel Tamano admitted the fresh license would be a great help in assuring investors and creditors to put in money for the long term and allow the company to meet its promises to the government.

Tamano said by March 2021, the company would have achieved 37 percent coverage of the population.

“Our government commitments are ambitious,” Tamano said. “We will double the download speed on the first year, and quadruple it by year two.”

Rodolfo Santiago, Dito chief technology officer, also assured subscribers to the network of communications security.

During the Senate hearing, Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked why the Duterte administration wants Dito to operate in the country while it virtually has no credible cyber-defense capability.

“ChinaTel is not a private corporation. This is a proxy of a Chinese regime intent on pushing its weight around and imposing its will upon the region. By allowing a proxy of the Chinese government to set up networks in the country, as well as facilities in our military camps, it is reasonable to conclude that a state-sponsored hacking group can easily get one foot in our door. It might become the spearhead of a Chinese cyber offensive against the country,” Hontiveros said.

At the same hearing, Pierre Galla of Democracy.net.ph said the country has not yet established a cyberdefense doctrine to guide the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the rest of the security establishment in combating threats in the digital landscape, including those posed by state-sponsored hacking groups.