DITO quality scores either first or joint first in 15 regions

THIRD telco player DITO Telecommunity Corp. received the highest scores from mobile users in many regions in terms of core consistent quality, according to London-based analytics company Opensignal.

“Looking across all of the 17 analyzed regions — DITO comes first or joint first for core consistent quality in 15 regions,” Opensignal analyst Sam Fenwick said in his latest analysis.

“Our DITO users reported the highest outright scores in four regions: Caraga (which includes Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Dinagat Island), Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos), Western Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula,” he added.

Opensignal defines core consistent quality as the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower-performance applications including SD video, voice calls, and web browsing.

Data used for the analysis were obtained between Aug. 1 and Oct. 29, 2022. “In this analysis, we have used common coverage areas — and as a relative newcomer, DITO may not have the same coverage as Smart or Globe in some of the regions,” Mr. Fenwick noted.

Unlike Globe Telecom, Inc. and PLDT, Inc.’s Smart Communications, Inc., DITO does not operate 2G or 3G networks and therefore the lowest generation of mobile technology used by its subscribers is 4G, he added.

DITO and Globe tied for the highest core consistent quality scores in Cagayan Valley with 76.3% and 75.8%, respectively.

The Ayala-led Globe had the highest score in the Ilocos region (75.3%), beating DITO by 2.5 percentage points and Smart Communications, Inc. by 8.2 percentage points.

DITO and Smart were nearly tied in Central Luzon with scores of 72.6% and 73.2%, respectively. Globe received a score of 71.7%.

In Metro Manila, DITO and Globe came out on top, with statistically tied scores of 82.6%-82.9%.

Globe received the highest score in Bicol, 73.5%, putting it ahead of DITO by 2.2 percentage points.

DITO tied with Smart in Central Visayas, with scores of 73.4% and 74.3%, respectively.

“In Western Visayas, DITO users had the highest core consistent quality score — 76.8%, or around five percentage points higher than Globe and Smart’s statistically tied scores of 71-72.5%,” Mr. Fenwick said.

In Mindanao, DITO received the highest scores of 74.3% (Zamboanga Peninsula), 71.6% (Caraga), and 68.9% (Northern Mindanao), where Smart obtained a score of 68.3%.

DITO also had the highest score of 73.4% in Soccsksargen.

“In Bangsamoro and Davao, DITO and Smart statistically tied for the highest score, beating Globe by around 10.2 percentage points and by approximately 13.9 percentage points, respectively,” Mr. Fenwick said.

“One factor contributing to DITO’s strong performance is that the operator is still rolling out coverage and typically urban areas are served first before rural ones — where it is more challenging to provide users with good mobile service,” he added.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin