Davao-based Uy’s Dito starts building cell sites in Bangsamoro

STAY CONNECTED The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government complex is located in Cotabato City, which is one of the areas in the BARMM where Dito Telecommunity has constructed a cell site to improve connectivity in the region. —BONG S. SARMIENTO

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Philippines — Dito Telecommunity, a telecommunications firm controlled by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy, has started constructing cell sites to improve connectivity in the fledgling Bangsamoro region, officials said.

Dito Telecommunity, the country’s third major telecommunications company, has revealed plans to put up at least 166 cell sites in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), said Bangsamoro Transportation and Communications Minister Dickson Hermoso.

Some of Dito’s cell sites were already operational even if not yet officially launched. The company hoped to complete its cell site infrastructure in 2023, a statement from the BARMM Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said.

“The MOTC is always ready to cooperate with and support private sector initiatives that would result in faster and more economical, reliable and secure flow of information in the BARMM,” Hermoso said.

Willing partners

Dito is a consortium of Uy’s Udenna Corp. and Chelsea Logistics with Chinese state-owned firm China Telecom. Uy is reportedly a close friend and one of President Duterte’s top campaign contributors during the 2016 presidential elections.

Dito, formerly Mislatel, is challenging the duopoly of Globe Telecoms and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, owner of Smart Communications Inc.

Hermoso, who led the MOTC in an Oct. 21 meeting in Davao City with Dito, represented by chief technology officer Rodolfo Santiago and chief administrative and legal officer Adel Tamano, noted that telecommunications remain a problem in many areas of the Bangsamoro region, particularly in the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi (BaSulTa).

The BARMM also covers the mainland provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur; the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato; and 63 villages in six towns of Cotabato province, referred to as the region’s special geographic area.

Tamano said they were studying the use of submarine cables to improve connectivity in BaSulTa.

Omar Marzoc, officer in charge of the Bangsamoro Telecommunications Commission, one of the seven offices under MOTC, said they welcomed the operations of Dito in the region and would be ready to work closely with the company.

“If they will be able to partner with us and we will be able to assist them in securing their permits and licenses, we might be able to hasten their intention to build more towers and investment in the BARMM,” said Marzoc in a report from the Bangsamoro Information Office.

Marzoc, who joined Hermoso during the meeting with Dito executives, revealed that the company has already constructed 13 cell sites in Maguindanao, including Cotabato City, and two sites in Lanao del Sur. These are part of phase 1 for this year.

For phase 2 next year, they will be increasing the number of cell sites in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, and for phase 3, Dito will be entering BaSulTa, Marzoc said.