Dito Telecom clarifies no modems sold yet

Dito Telecommunity Corp. on Monday clarified that it has yet to release modems or pocket wifi products to the public.

In a statement, Dito warned to take legal action against individuals or establishments found to be involved in the unauthorized use of the Dito brand.

"It has come to our attention that there are so-called Dito-branded modems that are being sold online," Chief Administrative Officer Adel Tamano said.

"Let me take this opportunity to assure the public that the unauthorized use of the Dito branding in any form shall result in the possibility of prosecution for copyright infringement," he added.

The statement was released after Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. said its modems were being resold and passed off as Dito-branded products.

Globe said it found individuals and retail establishments unlocking Globe At Home wifi modems and substituting their SIMS with that of Dito, and warned of legal action.

"There are no official Dito modems or pocket wifi devices that have been launched at this time. Dito cannot and will not guarantee the performance and service should our SIM cards be used in these unauthorized devices in the market today," said Tamano.

"We are in the process of testing compatible devices and will add to the list those that will pass our internal testing," he added.

Dito officially launched commercial services in March, in pilot areas in the Visayas and Mindanao. It expanded to the National Capital Region in May.

Just last week, Dito said it has around 890,000 subscribers and targets to cover 150 cities and municipalities by the end of the month.

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 Dennis Uy's communications, media, and entertainment businesses, closed Monday down by 18 centavos or 1.88% to P9.42 apiece versus last Friday's finish of P9.60.

Shares in Globe closed P54.00 higher or 2.93% at P1,895.00 apiece versus last Friday's finish of P1,841.00. —KBK, GMA News