According to a new report from mobile analytics firm Opensignal, new telecom player DITO Telecommunity is holding its own against key rivals Globe Telecom and Smart Communications in its early performance.
While the new operator’s mobile speed in three significant locations – Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Davao City – was equivalent to the other telco operators, according to Opensignal’s recent analysis.
“After an initial advantage soon after launch, our DITO subscribers’ download and upload speeds in Central Metro Cebu and Davao City declined marginally to the point where they were equivalent to the overall averages (measured across all three operators),” it stated.
“However, in the 30 days beginning July 6, 2021, DITO’s dominance over the overall score for Upload Speed Experience was restored in Central Metro Cebu,” it stated.
“We have already witnessed major changes in experience in the first several months of DITO’s mobile service. The average download speeds witnessed by our DITO users in Central Metro Cebu and Davao City in the 30 days beginning March 8, 2021, were statistically higher than the public figure,” the report said.
“However, in both locations, the following 30-day period was the polar opposite. There was no significant difference between the speeds experienced by our DITO users and the overall speeds in Central Metro Cebu for the last two 30-day periods, beginning June 6, 2021, and July 6, 2021; however, overall speeds in Davao City were much faster than those reported by our DITO users.”
According to the research, in Metro Manila, our DITO users’ Download Speed Experience was roughly the same as the all-operator average in the first 30 days that DITO’s commercial service was up and running in the area. In the following two 30-day periods, however, it was lower than the all-operator average.”
The early drops in average speeds experienced by DITO users are not unusual, according to Opensignal, because it is common for initial network launches to result in an unpredictable network experience.
“On the one hand, operators will try to resolve network teething difficulties as well as add base stations and capacity, which should improve the overall experience. But, at the same time, the network will add consumers, and data consumption will rise, putting a strain on the network experience,” it warned.
Since its inception, the Video Experience of DITO customers in Cebu and Davao has generally remained in line with the all-operator average, while the Upload Speed Experience in Metro Manila has constantly been above the all-operator average, according to Opensignal.
Last March 8, DITO, the country’s third mobile network operator, began commercial operations in Cebu and Davao. On May 1, it added 15 new locations, and on May 17, it debuted mobile services in Metro Manila.
According to Opensignal, upload speeds are becoming more crucial to customers as social media pushes users to upload and share their photos and videos.
“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 beginning June 6, 2021, and DITO’s score statistically tied with the overall score during that period.
“In Davao City, on the other hand, DITO’s score only topped the overall average by a statistically significant margin in the 30 days beginning March 8, 2021 — there was no significant difference between the two scores in the other periods.
“In the three 30-day periods we evaluated, our DITO consumers reported much higher Upload Speed Experience scores than the all-operator average in Metro Manila,” the research stated.
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, according to Opensignal, DITO’s entry into the Filipino mobile market is evolutionary, not revolutionary, for the mobile experience.
“However, given that DITO’s competitors – Globe and Smart – have had far more time to roll out their own 4G networks, these early results are impressive and bode well for the market’s long-term competitiveness — particularly if DITO can scale up capacity to keep up with the influx of new users (the operator passed the two million subscriber mark on August 3, 2021) as it grows,” Opensignal said.