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DICT gets Php1.8B Budget for Nationwide Free WiFi in 2017

More free WiFi spots across the nation? The Department of Information and Communications Technology will get Php1.8 billion worth of funding next year solely allocated for Free WiFi, according to the newly-submitted Php3.35 trillion Philippine National Budget for 2017.

free wifi

Senate Minority leader Ralph Recto aims to boost the coverage of the government’s free WiFi in more areas across the nation. “With the proposed funding, the project, which aims to provide free broadband Internet access to 1,462 towns and 44 key cities nationwide, is sustained,” Recto said.

As per the DOST’s report last May, more WiFi spots will be installed nationwide and have commenced since this June:

  • National Capital Region (186 sites)
  • Region 1 (257)
  • Region 2 (13)
  • Region 3 (96)
  • Region 4A (135)
  • Region 4B (29)
  • Region 5 (60)
  • Region 6 (31)
  • Region 7 (83)
  • Region 8 (66)
  • Region 9 (29)
  • Region 11 (64).

free-wifi

Under the original plan, no-charge Wi-Fi access will be set up in selected airports, hospitals, public schools, plazas, seaports, government offices and other public places. Wi-Fi, in the Duterte administration, will also be used as a major tool in cutting red tape and in making “papers and processes” move faster in government offices. “If you’re at the NSO at may problema ka sa birth certificate mo, kung may access doon, pwede mong iViber ang kailangan pang dokumento,” Recto said.

The Free WiFi is a government project aiming to boost connectivity across the country. One can use the service with a 50MB daily allocation, or 1GB monthly with an average of 256 kbps — the lowest prevailing speed requirement for ”broadband” service, according to the then DOST-ICTO.

Source

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2 Responses

  1. Avatar for boowee boowee says:

    di ba meron na Negros Island Region, bakit nahahati na naman yang islang yan into 2 different regions?

  2. Avatar for el gato el gato says:

    at saan naman kukunin yung wifi signal? sa smart/pldt at globe na naman? yung total bandwidth ng subscribers ay liliit na naman.
    dapat may sariling national broadbvand project ang gobyerno. malakaing tulong sana yung national broadband network project ni pgma… kaya lang maraming gahaman sa PH. nakisawsaw yung anak ng speaker, comelec chair, atbp.

    if i were part of the duterte team, i’d suggest instead to invest in currently existing telco to provide additional internet bandwidth infrastructure so that fast unlimited internet is truly affordable or revive national broadband network project.

    ano ba ang nangyayari sa free 30-minute fast internet ng globe/ayala? kailangan ba nating pumunta sa ayala mall para lang sa 30-minute free internet kada araw? bakit hindi ibigay ang 30 minutes of free fast internet (not counted against daily data quota) to globe LTE subscribers?

    ano ba ang nangyayari sa free fast internet ng pldt? kailangan pa ng pldt subcribers pumunta sa airport para lang sa free fast internet? hindi ba pweden iderektang ibigay yung fast internet (not counted against daily data quota) to pldt subscribers?

    kaya lang mukhang walang mangyayari kasi dating tauhan ng globe yung chair ng dept of communications (?).
    sa isang interview, sinisisi pa ang internet users kasi “dami daw ang downloads”… lol… nakatatawa. ano ba ang ginagawa ng globe, pldt/smart? ginagawa nilang limited ang internet data. kapag lumampas, crawl ang speed ng internet mo o stop na unless you pay for internet boost… at yu pay add-on cost to download or stream music/movies from iflix/netflix/spotify/etc…

    ang extra bandwidth ng globe mula sa LTE upgrade nila ay nasa ayala mall: ‘go wifi’ : free 30-minutes free wifi to all wifi-capable devices using unique access code sent to 1 sim (any telco) at paid go wifi if you want extra perks.

    ewan ko kung nasaan ang extra bandwidth ng smart mula sa LTE upgrade nito.

    ewan ko kung nasaaan ang extra bandwidth ng pldt. nakakatawa yung ‘longest fiber network’ claim. yung wala pang cellphone tech sa PH, ni hindi nga maabot ng pldt landline phone yung town namin.
    lumipas ang napakaraming taon, dumating yung pldt sa kabilang town, nagkakabit sila ng landline internet cables. lumipas na ang dalawang taon, hindi pa rin sila tumatanggap ng internet subscribers at hindi pa rin sila naglalagay ng landline internet cable sa town namin.

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