DICT targets 250,000 WiFi access points by 2022

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it plans to build 250,000 WiFi access points before the end of the term of President Rodrigo R. Duterte in 2022.

“With the free WiFi bill [law], we will build more WiFi hotspots or access points… We are targeting around 5,000 this year, another 10,000 or so next year… We will have around 250,000 before the end of the term of President Duterte,” DICT Officer-in-Charge and Undersecretary for Special Concerns Eliseo M. Rio told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the 1^st Philippine Internet Governance Colloquium.

Mr. Rio was referring to Republic Act No. 10929 governing the Free Internet Access Program headed by the DICT, signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte in August.

“We lack towers,” Mr. Rio said, noting that devices have to share the 27,000 cell towers of the two major operators Globe Telecom, Inc. and PLDT, Inc. He added that around 67,000 cell sites are needed to meet the country’s Internet connection needs.

“People will now go to public places for a WiFi connection, and not connect to a congested tower.” Mr. Rio said that the connection to the WiFi in public spaces will be “fast and useful.”

He added that equipment for an access point will cost about $600 per unit, while the subscription to an Internet service provider (ISP) will be bid out. After three years of contracting with the ISP, the access points will then serve as end points of the National Broadband Network, which aims to provide connection to all government offices, down to the local government units.

Mr. Rio however said that what the country truly needs is better fixed line connections and not just mobile data services.

“Most of us are connected to mobile data providers…We have very (few) connecting establishments, and these are the places where we spend 80% of our time,” he said.

The DICT unveiled in June the first stage of its free public WiFi project, with connections available in Metro Rail Transit (MRT) stations along EDSA. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo