THE DEPARTMENT of Information and Communications Technology installed a total of 4,305 Free Wifi For All sites nationwide last year, doubling the number of free WiFi sites in the country.

The department said that from 2016 to 2019, there were 3,251 Free WiFi sites, “achieving a rate that is 500% greater than its previous average of 800 sites per year.”

“This program is instrumental to fulfilling the marching orders given by the President to DICT, upon our assumption last July 2019, which includes connecting every Filipino to each other, to their government, and to the world. So, from day one we immediately went into analyzing factors that may speed up the implementation and applied the needed reforms,” DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan II said.

The Free WiFi for All Program, one of the flagship programs of the department, has been continually re-evaluated and redesigned to address major issues that include the procurement of some crucial network components and the difficulty of some suppliers to deliver their contractual obligations.

Despite the pandemic, the DICT was able to establish free WiFi sites in schools, hospitals, parks and other public places in 2020.

To know more about the program, visit https://freepublicwifi.gov.ph.