Free WiFi project

DICT undersecretary Jeffrey Ian C. Dy said the current approach to the Free Wi-Fi Program requires reevaluation and restructuring, noting that there are cost-effective alternatives than spending approximately P6.5 billion annually to provide Internet access to more than 7,000 locations

The DICT awarded Converge the contract to supply free Wi-Fi connectivity to 36 municipal sites in Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte and four municipal sites in La Union.

DICT secretary John Ivan Uy said Starlink’s satellite broadband service may become available for local residential subscribers in “a matter of weeks”.

Starlink, the satellite-based Internet service of SpaceX, will become part of the mix of broadband sources that the government will tap to deliver the free WiFi program to the public.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to ensure that it would hit its target in rolling out Internet connection in public places, including educational institutions.

Former DICT undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. refuted on Tuesday, June 1, the statement of the DICT claiming that Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology provides cheaper and faster Internet to remote areas of the country.

At the same time, 79 additional Free Wi-Fi hotspots were also launched in Surigao del Norte last March 09.

The DICT said it will also provide desktop computer packages to the LGUs and schools in the Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi (BASULTA) area.

With additional 4,305 live sites in 2020, the DICT said it more than doubled the total number of sites deployed throughout the entire country.

The fresh allocation 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) for 2021.