Telecommunications duopoly challenger DITO Telecommunity Corp. has tapped a company within Dennis Uy’s Udenna Group to undertake its network rollout.
In a statement, DITO said it signed a P10-billion deal with Udenna Infrastructure Corp. (UIC) for the construction of the third telco’s towers and for the roll-out of fiber optic cables.
“In need of local expertise and grassroots infrastructure experience, DITO Telecommunity Corp. engaged UIC to assist in the rollout of cellular tower and fiber optic cables,” Jomel Fuetes, chief operating officer of UIC, said.
Fuentes said that UIC and FutureNet and Technology Corp., the general contractor of DITO, recently signed a master service agreement (MSA) that outlines the scope of work, the matrix of responsibilities, work processes among other details for the construction of almost 1,500 towers and the laying of more than 1,400 kilometers of fiber optic cabling for a period of two years.
“Since 2017, UIC has been hard at work, as we believe there is no more worthwhile investment than the country itself, generating jobs for Filipinos and delivering a higher quality of life to all,” he said.
“The agreement with FutureNet and DITO is a milestone for UIC as we come together to ensure that we maximize and build on our strengths as individual companies and as a Group, all for the success of the March 2021 launch of DITO Telecommunity,” he added.
DITO, formerly Mislatel Consortium, was awarded its permit to operate as the third telecommunications player of the country on July 8, 2019.
The consortium is made up of Davao businessman Uy’s Udenna Corp., Udenna's subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Holdings Inc., and Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications Corp.
DITO is targeting to have its commercial launch in March 2021.
The third telco earlier announced it is investing P1 billion for its cybersecurity initiatives amid concerns of espionage in relation to its co-location of cellsites with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
As of September 13, DITO said it has constructed a total of 859 towers, more than half of the 1,300 towers needed to achieve the mandated goal of 37% of population coverage and 27 megabits per second (Mbps) internet speed by January 2021.
By TED CORDERO, GMA News
Source: Peso Economics
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