Hindi matutuloy ang technical launch ng DITO Telecommunity, ang third telco sa bansa, na nakatakda sa susunod na linggo.
Sa pagdinig ng Senado kahapon ay sinabi ni DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano na bago ang July 8 deadline nito para sa ’technical launch’, ang DITO ay kasalukuyang nagtatayo ng 1,300 cell towers, kung saan 300 dito ay gumagana na, subalit hindi ito sapat para matugunan ang ipinangakong bilis at network coverage.
Sa technical launch sinusuri ng regulators kung ang mga kasalukuyang pasilidad ng DITO ay sapat upang matugunan ang mga ipinangako na nakasaad sa ilalim ng government licenses na nakuha ng kompanya.
Para sa 2020, ang target ay itinakda sa maximum Internet speed na 27 Mbps sa 37% ng populasyon ng bansa.
“The COVID-(19) and the lockdowns have prevented us from our full rollout. With the subsequent easing of the different lockdown situations we are doing our best to get back on track,” sabi ni Tamano.
Ang DITO ay inatasang magtayo ng 2,500 cell towers pagsapit ng Hulyo 8.
“We have 1,300 towers in construction, 300 of them are already live and it is our plan that within this year 2,000 towers will be completed,” dagdag pa niya.
Kapag sumablay ang DITO sa kanilang deadline ay walang magagawa ang kompanya kundi ang humingi ng grace period mula sa Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Ayon kay dating DICT Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr., isa sa resource person sa Senate hearing, nangangahulugan ito na naubos na ng kompanya ang isa sa dalawang grace periods sa pagtugon sa rollout targets sa ilalim ng prangkisa nito.
“Once the company hits Strike 3, the government can forfeit on its favor the P25.7-billion performance bond DITO paid before construction activities, a sizable amount meant to prompt the China-backed firm to fulfill its commitments on time,” sabi ni Rio.
“As far as I know, they [DITO] have not requested for any postponement of that commitment… But definitely they are saying they could not have the 1,300 finished by July 8…. If they cannot comply by July 8, then that is their Strike One,” aniya.
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