This week, DITO has announced it has filed two complaints against Globe Telecom and PLDT (Smart) with the Philippine Competition Commission, claiming that the two larger telcos are exploiting their dominant market position to prevent DITO from competing fairly.
The operator alleges that Globe and Smart have failed to follow the standards of the National Telecommunications Commission…

This week, DITO has announced it has filed two complaints against Globe Telecom and PLDT (Smart) with the Philippine Competition Commission, claiming that the two larger telcos are exploiting their dominant market position to prevent DITO from competing fairly.

The operator alleges that Globe and Smart have failed to follow the standards of the National Telecommunications Commission, which requires all mobile operators to ensure good interconnection between rival networks. 

« Out of 100 calls that DITO makes to reach out to one of these telcos, only 30 are able to get through. Seventy out of 100 calls are unable to interconnect. For the other one, it’s even worse, out of 100 calls, only 20 are able to interconnect, » said DITO’s Chief Administrative Officer Adel Tamano.

DITO Telecommunity launched its mobile services in the Philippines in March 2021, aiming to break up the duopoly of Globe and Smart. 

The Philippines had been seeking a third mobile entrant since at least 2019, with then-President Rodrigo Duterte repeatedly blaming the country’s bipartite mobile market for the Philippine’s relative lack of infrastructure development compared to its international neighbours.  

As a result, the launch of DITO was met with much fanfare, with the new operator saying it would aggressively take on the existing operators, pledging to invest $6 billion in its new network and aiming to capture 30% of the market. 

Since then, the company has indeed gained subscribers rapidly. By the end of 2021, roughly nine months after launch, the company had reached five million subscribers. Today, that figure stands at around 11 million, with DITO saying it is aiming to reach 12 million by the end of the year. 

DITO says that its rapid customer acquisition is due to their competitive pricing and high-quality service.

But while this growth is no doubt impressive, it still leaves the newcomer utterly dwarfed by both Globe and Smart, which have around 87 million and 71 million mobile subscribers, respectively. 

« We are alleging abuse of dominant position. Obviously Globe and Smart are in a dominant position. They’re giants. Our market share for the entire market is at most 5 percent, » said Tamano, who said that DITO’s growth would be “much, much higher if interconnections were okay”.

Globe and Smart have yet to officially respond to this announcement.

The DoD has launched three new 5G projects this week, hoping to capitalise on public and private sector collaboration to help develop relevant 5G technologies. 
The first of these three projects is Open6G, looking to pair universities with the private sector to co-develop 6G Open RAN systems…

The DoD has launched three new 5G projects this week, hoping to capitalise on public and private sector collaboration to help develop relevant 5G technologies. 

The first of these three projects is Open6G, looking to pair universities with the private sector to co-develop 6G Open RAN systems. Open6G will reportedly serve as the DoD’s “hub for development, testing, and integration of trusted enhancements, supporting an industry and federal government NextG ecosystem pursuing 6G technology goals”.

IB5G has awarded $1.77 million to the project, which is being overseen by the Northeastern University’s Kostas Research Institute via agreement with the Army Research Laboratory. 

Secondly, IB5G has awarded $1.64 million to Zylinium Research to further develop its Spectrum Exchange Security and Scalability project. 

The company recently demonstrated dynamic spectrum allocation on the Platform for Open Wireless Data-drive Experimental Research (POWDER) at the University of Utah. The DoD says that its new funding will help Zylinium to further leverage blockchain technology to provide scalability.

Lastly, IB5G is collaborating with Nokia Bell Labs on their Massive Multi-Input/Multi-Output (MIMO) from MHz to GHz project, providing $3.69 million in funding. The effort will explore key technology components that enable scaling MIMO technology across different bands/bandwidths and DoD-oriented use cases.

 “The DoD has a vital interest in advancing 5G-to-NextG wireless technologies and concept demonstrations,” explained Dr Sumit Roy, IB5G Program Director. “These efforts represent our continuing investments via public and private sector collaboration on research & development for critical Beyond 5G technology enablers necessary to realize high performance, secure, and resilient network operations for the future warfighter.”

How is government investment in wireless technologies set to impact the sector at large? Find out from the experts at next year’s inaugural Connected America conference 

Also in the news:

Today, international mobile operator Veon has announced that it has sold its 45.57% stake in Omnium Telecom Algeria, the company that owns Djezzy, Algeria’s second-largest mobile provider. 
 
The deal will reportedly net the company around $682 million…

Today, international mobile operator Veon has announced that it has sold its 45.57% stake in Omnium Telecom Algeria, the company that owns Djezzy, Algeria’s second-largest mobile provider. 

The deal will reportedly net the company around $682 million, increasing Veon’s liquidity to $3.1 billion. 

The buyer is the Algerian National Investment Fund (AIF), which was set up in 2021 as a collaboration between the Bank of Algeria and the External Bank of Algeria. The AIF has already been investing in Algerian start-ups alongside Algeria’s public start-up accelerator, Algeria Venture.

For Veon, the deal will help continue to simplify the company’s portfolio and focus on other markets that exhibit stronger growth. 

VEON offers services to customers in 12 markets including Russia, Italy, Algeria, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Georgia, and Laos. Of these, Pakistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan are viewed as ‘growth engines’, while Bangladesh and Algeria were described as ‘frontier markets’ in Veon’s Q1 results presentation back in 2021. 

Veon sold its operations in Armenia, a market of similar size and slim margins, back in 2020. 

“The regulatory environment in Algeria was very restrictive in that sense […] infrastructure sharing and monetisation is also restricted,” explained Veon Chief Executive Kaan Terzioglu. “We built a beautiful enterprise. But when the strategic aspirations don’t meet, we thought it would be the best thing for us to sell our shares to the government.”

Back in April, TIM agreed to sell a 12.4% indirect stake in INWIT to a consortium led by French private equity firm Ardian. The sale would leave Ardian with a 90% stake in the holding company Daphne 3, which in turn holds a 30.2% stake in INWIT. TIM will retain a 10% stake in Daphne 3…

Back in April, TIM agreed to sell a 12.4% indirect stake in INWIT to a consortium led by French private equity firm Ardian. The sale would leave Ardian with a 90% stake in the holding company Daphne 3, which in turn holds a 30.2% stake in INWIT. TIM will retain a 10% stake in Daphne 3.

Ultimately, this means that the Ardian consortium will control around 27% of INWIT and TIM just 3%. Vodafone remains INWIT’s largest single shareholder with 33%.

As a result of this shift in the company’s balance of power, reports have been circulating since the start of the month that CEO Giovanni Ferigo was set to leave his position within the company as part of a full board reshuffle, with Vodafone and Ardian lining up their own suggested candidates for the board. 

Today, INWIT has announced that Ferigo has indeed resigned, as have four additional board members: non-executive directors Giovanna Bellezza, Sabrina Di Bartolomeo, Rosario Mazza, and Agostino Nuzzolo. 

Per the company’s bylaws, this mandates a total board reshuffle. 

Reports suggest that INWIT will begin the process to select a replacement board as early as next week, with an extraordinary general meeting planned for August 9.

Sources suggest that the new CEO will likely be Vodafone’s preferred candidate, while the chairperson role will be given to Ardian’s candidate.

INWIT is Italy’s largest mobile tower operator, controlling over 22,000 towers across the country. It was created by TIM spinning off its tower unit back in 2015 and has since grown in size, considerably, most recently in 2020 through its merger with Vodafone Towers Italia.