Free wi-fi hotspots

The Philippine National Government is investing another P1.2 billion next year to put up thousands of new Internet wi-fi hotspots that would provide Filipinos free Internet connectivity.

The amount is on top of the P2.9 billion government spending this year to build more physical locations or access points where Filipinos may freely connect to the Internet via their mobile devices.

The target is to establish up to 10,800 password-free hotspots all over the country by the end of 2019.

The extra funding for the Free Internet Wi-Fi Connectivity in Public Places Project is lodged in the budget of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in the proposed P3.757-trillion General Appropriations Act for 2019.

The Philippines’ average Internet connection speed remains the slowest in Asia Pacific, according to Akamai Technologies Inc.

In his 2019 Budget Message to Congress, President Duterte vowed “to harness the power of information technology to deliver better services to our people and spur economic growth.

An estimated 70 million Filipinos, or 60 percent of the population, are now online.

Of the 70 million Filipinos online, 69 million are active social media users while 59 million are active mobile social media users, President Duterte said in his State of the Nation Address.

The President also said that he is bent on bringing in a third telecommunications market participant by year’s end to provide effective competition in the delivery of high-speed Internet services at lower prices.--Rep. Luis N. Campos Jr., Makati City