The country’s largest integrated telecommunications company PLDT and telco newcomer DITO have recently entered into an agreement for the construction of a transmission facility that will serve as the point of interconnection for their subscribers.
Under the agreement, PLDT will establish and manage the interconnection facility that will operate as the primary physical interface for both companies.
PLDT Chief Revenue Officer and Smart Communications President and CEO Al Panillo emphasized how “it is important for us that we establish this interconnection capability between PLDT-Smart and the customers of DITO as mandated by the NTC, and principally to make sure that our customers are able to communicate.”
“During this pandemic, technology has been a lifeline for our customers so we want to make sure that our connectivity is solid in helping our fellow Filipinos and the entire nation during these critical times. We thank DITO for this partnership and I am looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship,” said PLDT chief revenue officer and Smart Communications president and CEO Al Panlilio.
The planned facility is expected to be completed by the end of March. DITO is also set to launch commercially next month.
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PLDT, DITO sign interconnection deal
“DITO knew from day 1 that in order for us to deliver our commitment to the Filipino, we needed to work hand-in-hand with the pioneers of the telco industry like PLDT. I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone in making the interconnection agreement between DITO and PLDT possible,” said DITO chairman and CEO Dennis Uy.
The National Telecommunications Commission on Monday said DITO passed its first technical audit after it logged a minimum broadband speed of 507.5 Mbps for its 5G service, and 85.9 Mbps minimum speed for its 4G service.
NTC added DITO’s mobile internet speeds reached 102.4 Mbps for 4G and 769.1 Mbps for 5G near base stations. At the middle point, 4G speed was recorded at 91.2 Mbps while 5G was at 437.1 Mbps.
“It should be noted that there are still no subscribers in the network at this time,” NTC said.