Before the Senate went on a session break, it passed Senate Bill No. 1277 or the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act on third and final reading via 18-0 vote.
Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said Congress is expected to approve this year the bill on free Wi-Fi access in all public places and six other key priority measures when it resumes session after the Lenten recess in May.
Barely six months after formally assuming his post, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) undersecretary Jorge Sarmiento has resigned from his post for still undisclosed reason.
The move is meant to address the persistent complaints from subscribers on slow Internet speed because of the lack of cellsites in the country. Compared to Vietnam which have 40,000 cell towers, the Philippines has on 7,000 cellsites.
Tarlac representative Victor Yap introduced an amendment to the bill mandating the required minimum Internet speed of 10 Mbps, saying it will be useless if connection will be slow.
Along with the broadband project, Pres. Duterte also signed an executive order creating a government portal which will serve as an online one-stop-shop for government transactions.
A bipartisan bill was reintroduced in the US Congress on Friday, Feb. 3, to make companies that move call centers overseas ineligible for grants or guaranteed loans from the government, a move aimed at curbing the transfer of jobs to nations like the Philippines.
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is intensifying its venture into space technology with the recent creation of a new program called Space Technology Development (STD) which has an allocated budget of P258 million.
