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DITO Tel targets 1M WiFi subscribers by 2026

DITO Tel targets 1M WiFi subscribers by 2026

GMA Networka day ago
DITO Telecommunity executives (from left to right) Chief Revenue Officer Atty. Adel Tamano, DITO President and CEO Eric Alberto, and Chief Technology Officer Rodolfo Santiago engage with media during the Kapihan sa DITO on July 1, 2025. (Photo: Ted Cordero/GMA Integrated News)
China Telecom-backed DITO Telecommunity Corporation aims to have at least one million users of its plug-and-play fixed wireless access (FWA), which is powered by 5G, by 2026.
At a media briefing in Taguig City on Tuesday, DITO chief revenue officer Adel Tamano announced that the telco has grown the subscribers of its own WiFi brand WoWFi to 250,000 as of the end of June this year since the service's launch in October 2024.
Tamano said DITO Tel is targeting to close 2025 with 300,000 FWA subscribers.
DITO Tel president and CEO Eric Alberto said the telco's infrastructure can accommodate 3.6 million FWA subscribers.
'We are barely scratching the surface at 250,000 [subscribers]… So we have a lot of room,' Alberto said.
The DITO Tel chief said that the telco has set a one million FWA subscribers target for the 'short term,' which would be 'one year to one-and-a-half years.'
'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 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,' Alberto said.
'Out of 24 million households in the Philippines, only eight to nine 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 FWA service which is a solution that addresses consumer pain points,' Tamano said. — VBL, GMA Integrated News
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