Early history On August 7, 2000, Digitel was granted a permit by the
NTC to establish and operate a Nationwide Cellular Mobile Telephone System (CMTS) using
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and/or
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology. The following month, the company founded the Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. (DMPI) to assist in its wireless service. On December 11, 2002, the government granted DMPI, through Republic Act No. 9180, the right to establish a permanent franchise to create and manage a wireless telecommunications service. DMPI launched its wireless service, known as
Sun Cellular, on March 3, 2003. From
mobile telephony, Sun Cellular expanded its services to voice, messaging and international roaming services, to wireless broadband and value-added services for consumers and businesses.
Acquisition by PLDT In 2011,
PLDT acquired Digitel, including Sun Cellular, from
JG Summit Holdings. Although PLDT also owns Sun's former competitor
Smart Communications, the two networks initially remained separate entities with completely independent mobile network infrastructure and corporate management structures. On October 21, 2020, PLDT announced that Sun's prepaid service was integrated into Smart Prepaid, leaving its postpaid service under "Sun" branding. On April 25, 2022, Sun's postpaid service was merged with Smart Postpaid, resulting to the cessation of all Sun Postpaid plan and add-on offerings. Smart encouraged those planning to subscribe to Sun to instead take advantage of Smart Signature plans, while existing subscribers can either still use their current subscription plans or upgrade to Smart Signature. ==Awards==