DITO telecom starts Naga cellsite works

NAGA CITY --- DITO Telecommunity, the country’s third major telecommunication company, has started constructing two of its 14 proposed cell sites in the city, Councilor Joselito Del Rosario, chairperson of the committee on public utility of the Sangguniang Panglungsod (SP) said.

Del Rosario said DITO, formerly known as Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. or Mislatel, has sought the approval of the SP to build 14 cell sites in different barangays in Naga City.

He said that out of the 14 proposed cell sites, 11 have passed the SP, however, DITO has to comply with other requirements before actual construction works on the cell sites could begin.

Del Rosario said that of the two cell sites on-going construction in Barangay Pacol, one is facing opposition from residents who believed that it poses health risks because of radiation.

He said a similar case in Barangay Concepcion Pequeña was endorsed by the committee to the barangay council to conduct a public hearing and come up with recommendations to the committee for its appropriate action.

Del Rosario said they have finished the barangay public consultations for social acceptability purpose regarding DITO’s cell site constructions.

Pacol residents said that Chinese looking men who are supervising and working on the cell site cannot speak English, thus they have difficulty talking to them.

Dito Telecommunity Corporation is a consortium of Davao businessman Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corporation and its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Corporation, and Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation, a parent company of China Telecom. It was selected as the country’s third major telco player following a government-led bidding exercise in 2018.

The third telco planned to construct over 2000 cell sites across the country and promised an average internet speed of 27 megabits per second once it starts operation.

DITO has scheduled the start of its commercial operation in March 2021.