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DITO Telecommunity’s commercial 4G and 5G services are expected to launch today, March 8, in the Philippines, with the initial rollout covering 15 pilot areas in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.

(Update, May 17: It’s officially launched in NCR [hello, Metro Manila]! Check out the new areas where you can access DITO Telecommunity’s services.)

(Update, April 16: DITO Telecommunity is now in Luzon! More details here.)

Its first bundle offer costs P199, or roughly $4, and includes unlimited data, calls, and SMS to other DITO subscribers, valid for 30 days upon activation. But how much does a DITO SIM card cost, and, assuming you have cellular coverage in one of its first locations, where can you buy it?

To answer those questions and many more, DITO has updated its official website to share how much its SIM card should be priced at, what it includes, and where you can purchase it.

These are the details we pulled from the site:

• A DITO SIM card has a suggested retail price of P40 ($0.82).
• Each SIM is bundled with 1GB of data, valid for seven days.
• You can buy DITO credits via partner retailers and the DITO app, which hasn’t launched at the time of posting this article.
• Apparently, prospective customers will be able to purchase DITO SIM cards online through this link (please open it on a phone, not on a desktop). If you own a compatible handset, you can even get a free DITO SIM card delivered to your address, free of charge.
• As of March 8, these are the physical stores that sell DITO SIM cards:
  • Visayas
    • OPPO: SM Consolacion
    • Q2: SM City Cebu
    • CQE: Gaisano Grand Mandaue Centro
    • XO: SM City Cebu
    • Cellfad: Ayala Center Cebu Business Park
  • Mindanao
    • Vivo: Gaisano Mall of Davao
    • OPPO concept store: Gaisano Mall of Davao
    • Wiltelcom: SM Ecoland
    • Rulls: SM Ecoland
    • Audionet: Citi Mall
• DITO will announce other prepaid offers soon; there are no postpaid services on offer at present.

Perhaps more importantly, the website of DITO states that you need an unlocked VoLTE [Voice over LTE]-compatible device to use its networks. If you have a feature phone, or an old smartphone from a few years ago, it’s unlikely that it will be able to receive a signal, let alone send a text message or make a voice call. You can refer to this table to see the latest list of fully compatible handsets on the local market, or simply hit up Google to find out if your device supports VoLTE.

List of smartphones that are compatible with DITO Telecommunity’s network as of March 8, 2021

In related news, DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano said that DITO SIM cards will only be available in the 15 pilot areas where it operates, namely Carcar, Cebu City, Consolacion, Danao, Liloan, Mandaue, Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando, and Talisay in Metro Cebu and Panabo, Tagum, Carmen, Davao City, and Digos in Metro Davao. Metro Manila will get its share of DITO SIMs “in a few weeks,” GMA News has reported.

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