Dito sees profitability in 5 years

MANILA, Philippines — New telco player Dito Telecommunity expects to be profitable in five years as it seeks to capture a significant share of the market by then.

Dito chief administrative officer Adel Tamano in Senate committee on public services hearing yesterday said the telco newcomer owned by the group of Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy and state owned China Telecommunications should generate positive EBITDA in three years, and achieve “true profitability” in five years.

“In terms of EBITDA, we would already be positive by the third year of operations and by the fifth year, we would have paid off our loans and have achieved true profitability,” Tamano said.

Last Monday, Dito launched the commercial operations of its prepaid mobile services, initially in 15 areas in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.

Tamano said the company’s services should reach Metro Manila by May or June.

“Our end goal is to have at least more than 30 percent market share,” he said.

Dito is eyeing to introduce its fixed broadband services to home users in the next two years.

Tamano said 22,748 users signed up online to Dito’s services during its launch, but only 6,597 of them were qualified or have compatible phones.

As of March 9, Dito had 7,586 subscribers.

Dito is mandated to deliver its commitments of 37.03 percent national population coverage with a minimum average broadband speed of 27 Mbps in its first year of operation.

Meanwhile, publicly listed Dito CME Holdings Corp. said that the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has given its clearance on the company’s share-swap transaction with Dito Telecommunity.

“The PCC noted that the share-swap transaction does not breach the thresholds prescribed by the Philippine Competition Act and its implementing rules and regulations, and qualifies as consolidation of ownership in the same natural persons,” Dito CME said in a stock exchange filing.

The transaction involves the acquisition of 100 percent of the shares of Udenna Communications Media and Entertainment Holdings Corp. in exchange for the issuance of 11.2 billion common shares of Dito CME in favor of Udenna Corp.