More free Wi-Fi sites activated in Region 7

DICT 7 director Frederick Amores looks on monitors at the Network Operation Center(NOC) in DICT office in Cebu City.       (SunStar File Photo)
DICT 7 director Frederick Amores looks on monitors at the Network Operation Center(NOC) in DICT office in Cebu City. (SunStar File Photo)

WITH the government’s thrust to integrate micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to the internet, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) 7 activated more free Wi-Fi sites in Central Visayas.

However, doing the same in mountain barangays remains a challenge because of the lack of infrastructure, said DICT 7 Regional Director Frederick Amores.

“Our biggest limitation is available infrastructure so we partner with the local government units to set up towers and radio transmitters in the mountain barangays,” Amores said.

Farmers and other MSMEs in the mountain barangay of Bonbon in Cebu City were already venturing into online selling and Amores said they will discuss with the city government how to bring free internet access in the area.

Discussions

“We’ll be in discussion with the city on how that can happen because the project is expected to last until 2022 so we have a long way to go in terms of implementation, but we are trying to address that. We are looking for creative solutions to challenges like infrastructure,” Amores told SunStar Cebu.

He said one of the problems they encounter in the mountains is the obstruction.

“Initially, there is available line-of-sight for our radio but then a building will be constructed so what happens is the connectivity is cut off. We have to find other solutions because we can’t just prevent construction of buildings because that is development,” he said.

Currently, DICT 7 is at 23 percent towards free Wi-Fi site implementation in Cebu under the Pipol Konek program, an initiative which aimed to give free internet access to Filipinos nationwide.

New activations

As of now, Amores said the public continues to enjoy free internet access in 267 Wi-Fi hotspots in the region.

Cary Flores, an engineer at Pipol Konek project in the region, said they continually activate sites in Cebu.

“We now have 137 sites and we recently activated the ones in Medellin and Bantayan Island,” he said.

Flores said for the first phase of the project, third class municipalities are prioritized while phase two includes the major cities in the region. (JOB)

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