There are several facets of modern life that would be extremely inefficient—if not outright impossible—to do nowadays without a constant and stable connection to the internet.
Having a reliable internet connection is necessary for many reasons, including working from home, receiving the latest news, listening to music and watching movies online, and simply connecting with friends and family.
Which is why an internet service provider that provides fast and reliable broadband connection is so desirable here in the Philippines. After all, we are not exactly known for our stellar internet.
In 2020, the country ranked among the worst in the world (110th in a list of 139 countries on The Speedtest Global Index) in terms of broadband performance.
Now, with the arrival and proliferation of 5G technology, things are changing. According to data from Opensignal, in terms of improvement over 4G connections, Metropolitan Manila ranked second place with a 5G Download Speed score that was 7.3 times faster than its average 4G upload speeds. Metro Manila’s overall download and upload speeds on 5G were recorded at 150.7 Mbps and 14.4 Mbps respectively.
This is still a far cry from Seoul, which sits at the top of Asia-Pacific cities on the list at 453 Mbps and 40.6 Mbps, or Kuala Lumpur at 376.6 Mbps and 52.8 Mbps. But it is a marked improvement.
As digital transformation continues to sweep across the globe, there is an increasing pressure to improve the country’s connectivity. The arrival of DITO Telecommunity promises to address that.
Most recently, the rapidly expanding telecommunications company has launched DITO Home UNLI 5G WIFI, a low-cost broadband subscription that would provide Filipinos with up to 500Mbps+ and 5G internet speeds in their homes.
With DITO Home UNLI 5G WIFI, the company seeks to provide Filipinos with an ultra-fast internet connection without breaking the bank. The speed and reliability are DITO’s main selling points; the company promises an internet connection that can enable Filipinos to “go all-out in their daily activities at home—whether for remote work, business meetings, online schooling, or leisure activities like online gaming, streaming, e-shopping or social networking”.
From our experience, this has largely been true. DITO Telecommunity provided BusinessWorld with a trial of their DITO Home Unli 5G WIFI Postpaid Plan, which is marketed to deliver up to 500Mbps+ 5G WiFi internet.
While we did experience some slowdowns, they were mostly unnoticeable for daily use. The speeds we recorded averaged at well above 400 Mbps for about a week of almost constant usage—and no interruptions whatsoever. Granted, this was recorded in Quezon City, where the 5G connection is strong. Your mileage may vary depending on your area.
For any significant slowdowns or other concerns, DITO offers a 24/7 service assistance hotline.
For day-to-day activities, such as remote work, business conferences, video and music streaming, DITO Telecommunity largely lives up to their promises, at least for now. It will be hard to tell whether this will be the case a year from now, especially as competition in the telco space intensifies.
There are two variations of the DITO Home Unli 5G WIFI Postpaid Plan: one delivers unlimited data and up to 500Mbps at P1490, while the other is a data-capped plan, offering 200 GB at P990 per month.
Both plans include a 30-day Prime Video subscription for subscriptions January 26, 2023 onwards and both earn DITO Rewards points with each bill payment.
The data-capped plan (Plan 990) supports data rollover as well, meaning leftover data from the previous billing cycle can be carried over to the next billing cycle, but not beyond that.
If they run out of data between billing cycles, 20GB Booster Promos are available on the DITO App for an extra P190, which will be charged to the next bill directly. These are valid for the next 30 days upon purchase.
Multiple Boosters can be availed as long as these are supported by your credit limit. If multiple Booster Promos are availed, the data validity of the older Booster Promo will extend to the end of the validity of the newer Booster Promo.
Users can monitor their data and usage via the DITO App.
DITO Home 5G Wifi Postpaid is available in 490 Barangays across the National Capital Region, Cavite, Davao, Laguna, 50 Barangays in Cebu and 11 Barangays in Mandaue.
Interested customers will need to provide DITO with one valid ID and their latest proof of billing such as utility bills like water or electricity, bank-issued documents, or barangay certificate of residence.
Applications are open via DITO Experience Stores in NCR, Laguna Cavite, Cebu & Davao, DITO Home website, and DITO booths in select communities.
Newly acquired subscribers and existing subscribers shifting to DITO Home UNLI 5G Postpaid Plan 1490 can also get the introductory offer of P745 per month instead of P1,490 per month for six months. The introductory price will apply starting from the 2nd month to the 7th month of the subscription.
DITO subscribers can pay their bill using the following payment channels: DITO Experience Stores, via DITO APP online payment through debit or credit card (Visa, Mastercard and JCB), GCash, Maya, GrabPay, ShopeePay, WeChat Pay, or a Pay & Go payment kiosk.
If they pay via the DITO App or MyDITO, they earn 3% from each payment as DITO Rewards points. If they pay through partner channels such as GCash, Maya, etc., this will be at 1% from each payment. Rewards can be redeemed for benefits such as data rewards and vouchers on the DITO app.
DITO also offers prepaid options for P1090 for unlimited 5G, and for P590 for 100 GB capped data allocation per month.
Take note that prepaid customers are required to purchase the DITO Home Starter Kit priced at P7,990. DITO Home Starter Kits come with 50GB of open-access data, also valid for 30 days. It also includes a 30-day subscription to Prime Video.
For more information, visit https://dito.ph/home5gpostpaid.
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