While it has yet to come out of the red, third telco Dito Telecommunity is making a big bet on fixed wireless access (FWA) via the 5G route to leap in the profitability arena in the next couple of years.
In its “Kapihan” session with the media on Tuesday, July 1, top executives said they hoping FWA to be major revenue booster for the company, with that segment of the business expected to deliver more than P1 billion in revenues this year.
Newly appointed chief revenue officer Adel Tamano said its offerings under its FWA service now have 250,000 subscribers, with an average daily growth rate of 1,200 new users.
This growing number, in addition to its 15 million mobile subscribers, is making the company bullish for its future. The telco said reaching 30 million mobile subscribers in the few next years would also put it in the black after spending billions in infrastructure.
At the media event, Dito president and CEO Eric Alberto said Philippine households are still severely underserved in terms of broadband connectivity.
Alberto said its FWA offerings, including its newly launched Dito Home WoWFi, intend to address this lack of access to broadband connectivity.
“If you think about it, wireless broadband access is better than the traditional fiber broadband. With 5G, it’s rarely that you get disconnected, unlike fiber broadband which suffers a lot of outages,” Alberto said.
“Wired connectivity has faced significant hurdles throughout the years. Fiber lines get cut resulting in severe service downtimes, there is still limited commercial reach, and above all, the service is relatively expensive. That’s where fixed FWA comes in, which is Dito’s and the country’s next frontier.
“Wireless broadband eliminates the need for costly and time-consuming installation and repair. It allows us to reach areas that fiber can’t or won’t serve. In short, wireless is how we bridge the digital divide for every Filipino home,” he added.
Alberto, a former top executive of dominant carrier PLDT, said while other networks have taken a more incremental path with 5G Non-Standalone networks, Dito has made a deliberate choice to build a full 5G Standalone (SA) infrastructure at scale.
Alberto also underscored Dito’s achievement for obtaining a broadband speed of 92.87 Mbps for 4G, more than double than its competitors, and 5G at a maximum of 597.7 Mbps, sharing that this milestone has earned Dito the recognition as Opensignal’s Fastest Mobile Network in the Philippines.
For his part, Tamano emphasized the importance of reaching underserved areas and meeting the evolving connectivity needs of Filipino households through the FWA service.
“Out of 24 million households in the Philippines, only 8 to 9 million are served with broadband – and even among those, service quality is highly inconsistent. Dito WoWFi is our answer. That’s why we’re changing the game with our Fixed Wireless Access service which is a solution that addresses consumer pain points. It’s fast, reliable, unlimited, and most importantly affordable,” said Tamano.
Powered by Dito’s 5G Standalone network, WoWFi Pro promises speeds of up to 100 Mbps, and comes with unlimited 5G plus a bonus 50GB high-speed allocation. It has a portable plug-and-play DIY setup with no professional installation required.
“This isn’t just about launching another product. This is about opening up digital and 5G access. We believe that our kababayans deserve better,” Tamano added.
Dito chief technology officer Rodolfo “GenBoy” Santiago said that while most legacy networks operate on Non-Standalone (NSA) systems which just layers 5G on top of old 4G infrastructure, a Standalone (SA) setup is true 5G built from the ground up.
Santiago said Dito’s SA technology allows faster response times, greater network efficiency, and the ability to support new technologies like RedCap that are impossible on older networks.
RedCap, or Reduced Capability, is a global 5G standard developed for IoT (Internet of Things) and smart connectivity that offers faster than 4G performance with lower power usage and lower cost. It should be noted that RedCap only works on 5G Standalone networks like Dito’s, Santiago said.
“What we really offer with Dito WoWFi Pro is faster than the usual 4G speeds; comparable to entry level fiber. Thus, it’s essentially saying that our brand of WoWFi offers 5G capabilities at the cost of 4G with the reliability of fiber, wireless pa,” Santiago said.
