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DITO in advanced negotiations for international cable system


DITO Telecommunity Corp. is currently building an international cable system in collaboration with international players, which could possibly be rolled out by the end of the year.

In a virtual briefing on Monday, DITO chief technology officer Rodolfo Santiago said it is now negotiating with possible partners for its cable, hinting at both international and local parties.

"'Yung DITO mismo will be building an international cable capacity. Of course, that is in collaboration with other international players because alam mo naman 'yan, usually for international cable systems this is being run by a consortium," he told reporters.

"Nasa advanced stage na ng ano 'yan, ng negotiations, and we expect that before the end of the year, we will be able to start wringing out of that new cable system," added Santiago.

Santiago declined to identify the possible partners, but said that it is possible that other local players could be part of the consortium.

"Malay mo kasama rin namin 'yung ibang telco dun sa consoritum. As I've said, these cable systems cannot be run by just one single telco," he explained.

DITO Telecom on Monday launched its commercial services in select areas in Visayas and Mindanao, with Metro Manila scheduled in the next few weeks.

The company last month passed its first technical audit, indicating that it was able to deliver on its commitments for its first year of operations. It recorded a 37.03% national population coverage, with an average speed of 27 megabits per second (Mbps).

"You cannot achieve 30% market share with 37% population coverage. I think that would be impossible, but our target really is to get 30% of the market... as soon as possible," said Santiago.

He said the 30% market share would be easily achieved if DITO achieves its fifth-year commitment of 84% population coverage, which the company seeks to capture before then.

"We're not contemplating on achieving the five-year commitment of 84% in five years. We want to achieve that early on," he said, noting that the company is on track to meet its second-year commitments.

For its second year of operations, DITO committed a nationwide coverage of 51.01%, a minimum speed of 55 Mbps, and a spending program of P27 billion.

The DITO consortium is made up of Uy's Udenna Corporation, Udenna's subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Holdings Inc., and Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation.

Shares in DITO CME Holdings Corp., the holdings company for Uy's communications media and entertainment businesses, opened Monday at P15.24 apiece, unchanged from last Friday's finish. Shares are down P1.34 or 8.79% to P13.90 apiece as of 12:50 p.m.—AOL, GMA News

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