While it is set to launch its commercial operations next week, Dito Telecommunity Corp. said it will not be able to turn a profit in 2022, given the long-term gestation period of its investments, which will reach the P226-billion mark next year.
Rodolfo Santiago, the company’s chief technology officer, said his group’s projections show that Dito, the third telco, will not be profitable for the first two years of its operations.
“Of course, our shareholders want it to be as soon as possible, but the telco industry is capital intensive. The gestation is for the long term, and as much as we wanted it to be profitable next year, I think it’s not possible,” he said.
Dito will sell its sim cards starting March 8. The launch will be done in waves with 17 cities and municipalities in Visayas and Mindanao as priorities. The National Capital Region, Luzon, and the rest of the country will follow suit.
The company is still mum about its pricing and the type of telco services it will offer, but officials assured that Dito will deliver on its commitment of providing 27 Mbps average minimum speed to 37 percent of the population this year.
Rodolfo said his group has already notified its creditors of its profitability track.
“Suffice it to say the assumptions that we’ve given our creditor banks, from their point of view, is reasonable,” he said.
Dito spent P150 billion to build its maiden network last year. This 2021, it is spending P26 billion to further expand the network to 45 percent of the population, while providing a minimum average speed of 55 Mbps. Next year, it has allotted another P50 billion for its network investments.
The company is subject for its second network evaluation on July 8. So far, Rodolfo said his group is confident of meeting its commitments.
Dito, controlled by Davao-based businessman Dennis A. Uy and partner China Telecom, won the auction for the third telco license in 2018, offering to cover 84 percent of the country’s population with telco services that have an average minimum speed of 55 Mbps through a P257-billion investment program.
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