A new report from mobile metrics firm Opensignal has shown that new telco player DITO Telecommunity isn’t doing too badly in its initial performance against main rivals Globe Telecom and Smart Communications.
In its latest study, Opensignal noted that while the new operator’s mobile speed in three key cities – Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Davao City – were comparable to the other telco companies.
“Our initial look at the mobile experience of our DITO users in the Philippines reveals that after an initial advantage immediately post-launch, their download and upload speeds in Central Metro Cebu and Davao City fell slightly to the point where they were similar to the overall averages (calculated across all three operators),” it said.
“However, DITO’s lead over the overall score for Upload Speed Experience was restored in Central Metro Cebu, in the 30 days starting July 6, 2021,” it added.
Opensignal said the Video Experience of DITO users in Cebu and Davao has essentially remained in line with the all-operator average since its launch, while its Upload Speed Experience in Metro Manila was consistently above the all-operator average.
DITO, the country’s third mobile network operator, launched its commercial services in metropolitan Cebu and Davao last March 8. It added 15 more areas on May 1 and launched mobile services in Metro Manila last May 17.
“In the first few months of DITO’s mobile service we have already seen significant changes in experience. In both Central Metro Cebu and Davao City, the average download speeds seen by our DITO users in the 30-day period starting March 8, 2021, were statistically higher than the overall figure,” the report said.
“However, the reverse was true of the following 30-day period in both cities. In the last two 30-day periods — commencing June 6, 2021 and July 6, 2021 — there was no significant difference between the speeds seen by our DITO users and the overall speeds in Central Metro Cebu, but in Davao City the overall speeds were significantly faster than those seen by our DITO users.”
The report noted: “In Metro Manila, our DITO users’ Download Speed Experience was essentially the same as the all-operator average in the first 30 days in which DITO’s commercial service was up and running in the area. However, it was below the all-operator average in the following two 30-day periods.”
Opensignal said the initial declines in the average speeds seen by DITO users are not surprising since it is common for initial network launches to lead to a volatile network experience.
“On the one hand, operators will be working to solve early teething issues with the network and be adding base stations and capacity which should boost experience. But equally, the network will be gaining customers and data consumption will be rising which may act as a drag on network experience,” it said.
Upload speeds are becoming increasingly important to consumers as social media encourages users to upload and share their pictures and videos, according to Opensignal.
“With Upload Speed Experience, we saw a different story between the three areas — in Central Metro Cebu, DITO users observed statistically higher upload speeds than the overall average in all but the data collection period starting June 6, 2021, and in that period DITO’s score statistically tied with the overall score.
“In contrast, in Davao City, DITO’s score only exceeded the overall average to a statistically significant degree in the 30 days starting March 8, 2021 — in the other periods there was no significant difference between the two scores.
“Turning to Metro Manila, our DITO users reported significantly higher Upload Speed Experience scores than the all-operator average in the three 30-day periods we analyzed,” the report said.
Opensignal said the analysis indicates that so far DITO’s entry into the Filipino mobile market is evolutionary, not revolutionary, for mobile experience because DITO’s scores were mostly similar to — or below — the overall scores of all operators, with the exception of Upload Speed Experience in both Central Metro Cebu and Metro Manila.
“However, given that DITO’s competitors – Globe and Smart – have had far longer to roll out their own 4G networks, these initial results are impressive and bode well for the market’s long-term competitiveness — particularly if DITO can increase capacity to keep up with the influx of new users (the operator hit the two million subscriber mark on August 3, 2021) as it grows,” Opensignal said.
