In preparation for online learning this school year, the DICT said it has opened six Tech4ED Centers in San Fabian, Pangasinan and activated three Wi-Fi sites in Happy Valley in Baguio City.
DICT secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II said that the budget will be utilized to reach the agency’s target to establish 23,100 lives sites by the end of 2021.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it will fast-track the deployment of its Free Wi-Fi for All Program to address the connectivity needs of public educational institutions under the “new normal”.
A Senate resolution noted the DICT has not been meeting its targets. In 2018, the agency targeted to add 5,308 sites in 1,500 cities. But as of April 13, 2020, there are only 3,707 live hotspots across the country's public spaces.
After getting into an imbroglio, it appears all is well now at the DICT as the agency launched simultaneously 31 sites in five provinces under its free Wi-Fi program.
But the DICT has been under fire from lawmakers who have criticized the slow roll-out of free Internet in public areas around the country, particularly in state universities and colleges (SUCs).
The DICT sought the assistance of UNDP last year, not only to expedite the rollout of Free Wi-Fi but also to aid in the capacity-building initiatives of stakeholders involved in project management.
The P280-million allotment for the Free Internet Wi-Fi Connectivity in SUCs Project is lodged in the budget of the DICT in the proposed P3.757 trillion General Appropriations Act for 2019.
