City-wide Wi-Fi can't be implemented soon

Sunday, February 12, 2012

DAVAO City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday it will take time before the city can implement the proposed city-wide Wi-fi zone, saying the proposal needs a corresponding budget to sustain Internet accessibility.

During his regular television program "Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa" aired Sunday morning, Duterte said he has no objection to the proposal of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) provided it will shoulder the expenses in the implementation of the Internet program, or if the City Government has enough budget for it.

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"Let us first ask the NTC kung pila na. Puede sila mugasto okay lang, pero kung kita, again that would involve money," Duterte said. "We would be the first to have a city-wide Wi-Fi, but the question here, naa ba ta'y kwarta?"

The vice mayor issued the statement after the City Council approved on first reading Tuesday a proposal of the NTC to make the entire Davao City and some immediate localities as wireless internet fidelity (Wi-Fi) zone.

Davao City Councilor Pilar Braga, chair of the council’s committee on energy, transportation and communication, said the proposed Wireless Wide Area Network for Davao City aims to establish a wireless network to cover the whole city by providing voice, data and video connectivity.

One of the core benefits of the proposal is to link all emergency and disaster response units of Davao City in order to improve emergency responses during calamities.

Should the technology materializes, data from the Central 911, all police stations, fire stations and barangays can be easily accessed for a better emergency response.

In Southeast Asia, Duterte said only Singapore is a Wi-Fi zone.