BACOLOD CITY -- Ten municipalities in Negros Occidental have been identified as initial beneficiaries of the “Free WiFi for All” program of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
On Tuesday, the program was simultaneously launched in San Enrique and in other areas across the country.
Rome Tome, the provincial officer of DICT-Negros Occidental, said the southern Negros municipality was the first to access the free WiFi in the province.
The program will be launched in the remaining nine localities at later dates. These are EB Magalona, Pulupandan, Ilog, Murcia, Candoni, Moises Padilla, La Castellana, Hinigaran, and Binalbagan.
Tome said access in these towns has already been installed but has yet to be completed.
In Negros Occidental, access points register about 20 percent coverage, which means that at the moment, free WiFi access is available only in municipal halls and public plazas.
The limit for the usage of free WiFi access is 50 to 300 megabytes (MB) per gadget per day from first to third level use.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 10929, or the “Free Internet Access in Public Places Act”, mainly aimed at promoting knowledge-building among citizens and enabling them to participate in the evolving information and communication age.
Under the law, free internet is provided at access points, such as national and local government offices, public basic education institutions, state universities and colleges, technology institutions, public hospitals, health centers, rural health units, public parks, plazas, libraries, barangay reading centers, public airports and seaports, and public transport terminals.
Tome said the free WiFi project started in 2016, but it took some time for the DICT to implement it because of delays in the bidding process and installation.
From "People Connect", the name of the program was changed to “Free WiFi for All: Free Public Internet Access” last July, when the new DICT secretary, former senator Gregorio Honasan, assumed office.
Tome said the agency is upbeat that once the program is fully implemented, it will boost economic activities in the province and spur inclusive growth as it will benefit the communities.
“Better internet access will also boost the e-government portal by bringing closer various government services to the people, like processing of clearances and other documents,” he added.
In a report, the DICT said the government has earmarked PHP1.3 billion for its free WiFi project, which aims to establish 100,000 sites across the country by 2022. (PNA)
