A GROUP has expressed doubts that the DITO Telecommunity, the third telco in the Philippines, will fulfill its promise to provide 27 megabits per second (mbps) internet speed during its first year of operation.
In an interview, Project BASS co-founder and columnist Wilson Chua expressed alarm because based on their data, DITO has only been providing 5 o 6 mpbs despite the absence of users.
“Nag-commit sila na 27 o 28 mbps ang pinaka-average na makukuha ng mga user nila. Ako’y nababahala dahil base sa data na nakikita natin, wala pa siyang subscribers ay nasa 5 or 6mbps pa lang ang kanyang naaabot,” said Chua.
Project Bass PH is a group of volunteers monitoring internet connection strength in different areas to improve the bandwidth in the country.
Chua expressed disappointment as he said DITO should have a faster internet connection as it doesn’t have subscribers yet.
“We were expecting sana na kasi ngayon wala pa silang surbscibers, so dapat sana ang nakikita nating bandwidth nila medyo mataas-taas, ako’y medyo disappointed lang… Personal ko ‘to, ha, personally I’m disappointed na we’re seeing very low initial bandwidth kasi normally ang network mabilis iyan kapag walang gumagamit, eh eto namang DITO, wala pa namang gumagamit pero bakit mabagal,” explained Chua.
Chua added that DITO is finding it hard to service Filipinos since only 1,000 or 2,000 barangays are undergoing testing.
“Parang hirap sila at the moment base sa nakikita namin, for example dapat mayroong certain barangays covered, ‘di ba? We’re seeing the testing done from only one or two barangays eh ilang thousands of barangay iyan.”
Wilson added that maintaining the speed and coverage of their bandwidth poses a big challenge for DITO.
“So, two things iyan na poproblemahin niya, ma-maintain ‘yung speed at ‘yung coverage niya. Paano niya mako-cover ‘yung ibang area.”
He added that DITO would need more towers to give better bandwidth to subscribers.
“Kung sila sa DITO ang plano nila ay magbigay ng magagandang bandwidth, siguro four times the tower number ng Globe and Smart ang kailangan nila dito,” added Chua.
Project BASS is looking for volunteers to inspect connections in remote areas.
