The Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) and United Nations Development Program launched the Free Wifi for All project at Ramon V. Mitra Sports Complex on Thursday, March 5, 2020, during the simultaneous launching in five provinces including Palawan.
The launching was also made simultaneously in the provinces of Albay, Davao City, Lanao Del Sur, Isabela and Palawan.
City Mayor Lucilo R. Bayron, provincial administrator, Atty. Joshua Bulosa who represented Palawan Governor Jose Chavez Alvarez, UNDP Deputy Representative Erico Gaveglia and DICT Director for Luzon Cluster 3, Cheryl Ortega and other local officials, led the project launching, which was also attended by different schools and institutions in the city, and as well as the department heads and representatives from the different offices of the city government.
Through teleconferencing, DICT Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, DICT Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr, and UNDP Philippines Resident Representative Titon Mitra delivered their respective messages.
Mitra said that UNDP supported DICT in its mission to reach the farthest to ensure that no one is left behind. The collaboration allows UNDP to draw on its global expertise and experience in connecting remote communities and empowering citizens by providing them access to information.
The Free Public Access Wifi is a law (RA 10929) signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte which provides free internet access in public places such as parks, hospitals, schools and government offices and terminals.
The DICT said that they are targeting that by 2022 they will have 200,000 access points which is considered as one of the world’s biggest free Wifi deployment. A Wifi access point’s size, speed and bandwidth allocation will depend on the size of the site and the number of concurrent users in the area. Some Wifi access point will have 100 Megabytes of allocation like universities while other spots will have 10 to 20 MB.
As of 4th quarter in 2019, the DICT has posted for P19-Million for the implementation of Managed Internet Service for the Free Wifi for all-Free Public Internet Access Program of DICT within the entire province of Palawan. It covers a total of 128 locations in the different towns of the province, including new 24 locations in Puerto Princesa City.
Currently, the new city hall building and the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral are both within Free Wifi zones within the city.