Dito Telecommunity Corp. clarified on Wednesday it made a “strategic decision” to only limit the compatible phones on its network given the limited frequencies it received from its bid for the third telco license.
Adel Tamano, the company’s chief administrative officer, said the limited number of compatible phones on Dito’s network is due to its decision to focus on 4G and 5G, as the radio frequencies that were awarded to the company were not meant for older connectivity technologies.
“While we do understand the excitement and desire of our countrymen to avail of our services, certain older phone models would really not be able to maximize the full potential of the next gen technology Dito has to offer—like providing high-definition voice calls,” he said.
According to Dito’s web page, there are 115 phones compatible on Dito’s network. These phones, which are capable of handling voice over LTE (VoLTE), are from manufacturers namely: Cherry Mobile, Huawei, Samsung, Infinix, Myphone, Oppo, Realme, TCL, Tecno, Vivo, and Xiaomi. Dito’s network is still not optimized for iPhone use.
“We are continuously working with handset manufacturers to certify and test more Dito-ready phones with 4G VoLTE and 5G technology, so that more Filipinos can experience fast, affordable, and reliable connectivity with Dito,” Tamano said.
He noted that Dito is also optimizing its network to provide consumers with its mandated minimum average speed of 27 Mbps.
“We at Dito wish to inform the Filipino public that network optimization continues to happen in Dito-covered areas, as well as continuous expansion in other areas to bolster our coverage and capacity, and ultimately ensure that signal and speed live up to the expectation and demand,” he said.
Currently, Dito’s network covers over 37 percent of the Philippine population, in keeping with its commitment to the government.
“We are very happy to see the results of the hard work the entire Dito team has put in, as we have gone beyond the network coverage mandated by the government in our first year. However, I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there is still a long journey ahead of us. We cannot guarantee service in areas which are not yet officially covered by Dito.”