Digital Telecommunications Phils., Inc., commonly known as Digitel, was the second-largest fixed-line and the third-largest

mobile telecommunications company A mobile phone operator, wireless provider, or carrier is a mobile telecommunications company that provides wireless Internet GSM services for mobile device users. The operator gives a SIM card to the customer who inserts it into the mobile devi ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It was also the company that owned

Sun Cellular Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc., doing business as Sun Cellular (or simply known as Sun), was a wholly owned subsidiary of Digital Telecommunications Philippines (Digitel), which in turn was owned by PLDT and is one of the Philippines' large ...

, a

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

service. The company was a subsidiary of

PLDT PLDT, Inc., formerly known as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (), is a Philippine telecommunications, internet and digital service company. PLDT is one of the Philippine's major telecommunications providers, along with Globe Te ...

(until April 25, 2022), one of the country's largest conglomerates.

History

Digital Telecommunications Phils., Inc. was established in October 1987 and commenced commercial operations in January 1992. In 1993, Digitel was awarded a 30-year exclusive contract by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to manage, operate, develop and rehabilitate certain telecommunications systems owned by the DOTC (collectively, the "DOTC System") and which are located in the provincial areas of Luzon under a Facilities Management Agreement (FMA). The FMA also provided for its conversion into a lease contract under certain terms and conditions agreed upon by both parties. In accordance with the provisions of the FMA, Digitel and DOTC agreed to amend and convert the FMA into a Financial Lease Agreement (FLA). Under the FLA, Digitel was granted the exclusive right to lease, manage, maintain, operate, develop and eventually own the said DOTC facilities. In February 1994, Digitel was granted a national franchise to provide domestic and international telecommunications services throughout the Philippines. In September 1994, Digitel was granted by the

National Telecommunications Commission The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC; ) is the telecommunications regulator of the Philippines. It is an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology responsible for the supervision, adjudication ...

(NTC) a provisional authority to operate an international gateway facility (IGF). A provisional authority was also secured from the NTC in January 1995 to install, operate, maintain and develop telecommunications facilities in Regions 1 to 5 including the facilities currently leased from DOTC.

Sun Cellular

On August 7, 2000, Digitel was granted by the NTC a Provisional Authority (PA), authorizing it to construct, install, operate and maintain a Nationwide Cellular Mobile Telephone System (CMTS) using Global System for Mobile (GSM) and/or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology. Consequently, Digitel has been building a high-powered performance GSM/1800 network with a suite of applications and services. On December 11, 2002, the

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

signed into law, Republic Act No. 9180 granting Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. (DMPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Digitel, a franchise to construct, install, establish, operate and maintain wire and/or wireless telecommunications system throughout the Philippines. In March 2003, DMPI commercially launched its wireless mobile services under the

brand. It pioneered the 24/7 Call & Text Unlimited in October 2004.

PLDT acquisition and closure

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) announced that it has completed the acquisition of Digitel from JG Summit Holdings, Inc. PLDT now owns 51.55 percent equity stake of Digitel. Digitel has a hundred percent stake in Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc., whose brand name is Sun Cellular. PLDT will announce a tender offer for all Digitel common stock at the P1.60 per Digitel share, and offered either PLDT shares at P2,500 per share of cash, at the option of Digitel Shareholders. Assuming all of Digitel minority owners agree, the total transaction consideration would be PHP74.1 billion. After the acquisition and assessment of the Digitel network, The company was announced to delisted from the publicity in the

Philippine Stock Exchange The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (; ) is the national stock exchange of the Philippines. The exchange was created in 1992 from the merger of the Manila Stock Exchange and the Makati Stock Exchange. Including previous forms, the exchange has ...

(as its stock quoted: DGTL) effectively between from late 2011-2012, and its subscribers were transferred into the PLDT network with its services were shut down. This became effective from November 15 – December 31, 2012, when the last Digitel Business Centers were closed. However, Digitel retained the operation on its subsidiary,

. Sun Cellular eventually ceased to operate on April 25, 2022, following its integration with PLDT's wireless firm,

Smart Communications Smart Communications Inc., commonly referred to as Smart, is a wholly owned wireless communications and digital services subsidiary of PLDT Inc., a telecommunications and digital services provider based in the Philippines. As of November ...

Products

Digitel's fixed line services are offered under the Mango, Choice, and DigiFonePal brands. Its cellular service is sold under the Sun Cellular brand, while its broadband Internet services are sold under the Mango and NetVantage DSL brands.

Subsidiaries

* Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. *Digitel Capital Philippines Ltd. *Digitel Information Technology Services, Inc. * Asia Netcom Philippines Corporation (60%) * Digital Crossing, Inc. (40%)

References

External links

Digital Telecommunications Philippines
{{PSEi PLDT subsidiaries Telecommunications companies of the Philippines Philippine companies established in 1987 Telecommunications companies established in 1987 Companies based in Quezon City Former JG Summit Holdings subsidiaries Companies formerly listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange 2011 mergers and acquisitions Telecommunications companies disestablished in 2022 Philippine companies disestablished in 2022