In a bid to embrace conveniences that the internet can provide, the City Government of Makati has just announced that they are now making preparations to build a city-wide network of free WiFi service.
This announcement was made during the current city Mayor Jejomar Binay Jr.’s 35th birthday — in conjunction with the city hall being a WiFi zone, will serve as a starting point for the continuous implementation of the said project that will soon find its way into 33 other barangays in the near future. “We are planning to pursue citywide wi-fi connectivity, and City Hall is a good place to start. Then we will select two pilot barangays first before gradually covering the entire city,†as stated by the mayor himself.
The main purpose of engulfing the city with WiFi signal is to ease communication between the city government, barangays and various sectors. According to the city’s official website: “Students of both public and private schools will also gain immense benefits when they have free access to internet” — which is a very logical statement given that the internet is an artificial galaxy filled with endless amounts of data which can be helpful in enriching the young people’s minds.
The project was made possible due to the city government’s partnership with the Philippine Long-Distance Telecommunications, PLDT — also the country’s largest telecom company — will be providing the city with free use of its WiFi Zone service via a dedicated communication line to ensure a fast and stable internet connection.
On an interview done with Interaksyon, Mayor Jejomar Binay Jr. has mentioned that there are indeed some issues with the cost of putting up the infrastructure. The cost is said to be “relatively large” which isn’t at all that surprising given that Makati City boasts a land area of just a little over 27 square kilometers — naturally they still have to do some preliminary testing to determine the positive outcome of the project to make sure that all the taxpayers’ money won’t go to waste.
“We thank our private sector partner, PLDT, for helping us take this first step towards becoming the country’s first WiFi City, which will significantly speed up the delivery of services and benefits to our constituents and stakeholders,†Binay said.
Making some things very much possible is a nice part of change.
pag si Vic ang nanalo sa kyusi, posible ito. Hanggat andyan si bistek, walang pag-asa ang kyusi
ganito kami sa makati, sana ganito rin sa buong bansa
^_^
It will be like the rest of the free wifi in the philippines, it will never work or be so super slow that its not worth using.
If they can avoid those 2 issues, it would be great
Masyado kayo excited sa news na ganyan, as if naman magigign successful yan. Example, aanohin mo ang free wifi kung mas malala pa sa 56kb dial up ang speed mo haha lolz
expect it to be abused by downloading/streaming
Ikaw nga this is where your taxes go. Swerte naman ng mga taga Makati.
Malapit na nga talaga ang election season.
TAMA! You can just imagine tarpaulins with “Project by: JUNJUN BINAY” hanging on each access point/repeater/router used in this project. Typical election gimmick.
Calling Mayor Herbert Bautista…
Tama! Mayor Herbert, sana maisip mo din ito… Sana..
Ang mga Mayor at Congressman nyo kasi busy sa mga sugalan, Jueteng, mga KABIT. Puro pa-pogi.
matagal nang ginawa sa amin yan pero parang nawala ang signal
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/6810/manongs-and-manangs-go-techie-in-ilocos-norte
Kudos for the City of Makati.
In Quezon City Public Library, our main library and 16 branches are wifi enabled since last year. We are looking for sponsors/ donors of tablets so that more can use the 30 databases and more than 20,000 books from ElibraryUSA. I extend my invitation to all to visit our libraries. We are open to all, even to non-QC residents. :)
PRO’s – Beneficial for those people who really need internet, from students, workers, etc..
CON’s – closure of many internet shops..
i also hope they implement it but with restrictions to the sites that they access, like porn sites etc..
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CON’s – closure of many internet shops..
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My concern exactly, at first. Then I remembered that the few times I walked into an Net cafe, much of what was going on was online gaming anyway.
Other issues:
IMHO, this should be limited to the poorer areas of Makati. Those living in the CBD, in Forbes or Bel-Air, don’t need free Internet. Heck, some of those providing the Internet live in those places.
Another thing: What access devices would they use? Full-blown PCs are still out of reach of many people. Low-end WiFi capable phones (not necessarily Android) may be affordable but don’t give the “full” Net experience. And maybe don’t have to — OK, I’m waffling there :) I’ve seen sub-P10K Android tablets, 10″, ICS, and I’m sure you can find cheaper tablets. Those might be more promising than even the WiFi phones with the largest screens.
Next, it would make a lot of sense for the city government to make their Website the first that opens on the browser. It would help too if Makati citizens could transact directly with the city gov’t through the Net.
Good! sana unti unti macover ang buong metro dagdag pa yung mga bus na may wifi.theres no need for data subscription anymore and can maximize the use of services like kakao talk, viber, etc..connected n lahat.sana din wala ng snatcher para safe kahit saan gumamit ng smartphones.
Makati does it again! Kung kaya ng Makati, I’m sure all the other cities of Metro Manila can do it. Mas malaki ang IRA ng Quezon City, and let’s not go into Manila itself, na napag-iwanan na ng ibang syudad. Sayang, capital pa naman sana ang Manila but the most you can see are the endless squatter colonies there.
this is a good reflection of what an efficient LGU can achieve. very good indeed!
This is such a good idea. Other cities should do this too. Kudos to VP Binay and Mayor Jun Jun Binay!