FREE WI-FI
To address this, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) plans to build 250,000 Wi-Fi access points nationwide, before the end of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s term in 2022. This is in accordance with Republic Act No. 10929 governing the Free Internet Access Program, signed by Mr. Duterte in August.
DICT Officer- in- Charge and Undersecretary for Special Concerns Eliseo M. Rio previously said people can connect to the WiFi access points without having to link to congested, limited cell sites. Around 67,000 cell sites are needed to meet the country’s Internet connection needs, but there currently only over 20,000.
The government will bid out the subscription to an Internet service provider (ISP). After three years of contracting with the ISP, the access points will then serve as end points of the National Broadband Network, which aims to provide connections to all government offices, down to the local government units.
“Mindanao will get its fair share of access points. Definitely, all barangays by 2022 will be covered. We’ll have all barangays connected to the Internet. All public places, all parks, where people gather like bus stations, piers, airports will have free Wi-Fi access,” Mr. Rio said in an interview.
DICT said it has completed 86 project sites across 16 provinces, all of which are operational as of Nov. 27.
For Mindanao, the DICT will establish access points in an estimated 11,475 public places by 2022. Every municipality will be covered and there will be a minimum of eight sites per municipality.
However, the DICT will only enter areas where the telecommunications players are not present, particularly in the less developed areas in Mindanao.
The World Bank noted there is lack of incentive for telecommunications firms to invest in remote areas given high capital spending required.
PLDT, Inc. in October completed its the P1billion expansion of the domestic fiber optic network (DFON) in Mindanao, for what the company says provides more reliable connectivity to its home and enterprise customers.
The fiber optic cable link directly connects the provinces of Agusan to Davao, spanning 230 kilometers. The network runs through four provinces in Mindanao — Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur.
In partnership with the local government of General Santos City, PLDT has also established fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) facilities in General Santos, the first “Fibr City” in Mindanao.
For its part, Globe Telecom, Inc. said it has already deployed around 3,000 long-term evolution (LTE) sites in Mindanao, covering almost 60% of the physical sites in the region. —