DICT promises 10Mbps internet speed from free EDSA Wi-Fi

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Tuesday said the free Wi-Fi on EDSA should provide commuters and motorists an internet speed of 10Mpbs.

"May utos si DICT Secretary [Rodolfo] Salalima na dapat yung bilis ng free Wi-Fi sa EDSA ay hindi bumaba sa dalawang digit, at least 10 megabyte per second ho 'yan, ang mararanasan ng mga mag-a-access ng internet sa EDSA," DICT Undersecretary for Special Operations Eliseo Rio Jr. said in an interview on Unang Balita.

If people accessing the EDSA Wi-Fi experience an internet speed below 10Mbps, Rio said they should complain to DICT.

"Subukan nila, kung mas mababa diyan, pakireklamo sa DICT at gagawa kami ng paraan," he said.

The DICT launched on Independence Day the free public Wi-Fi service with access points in all Metro Rail Transit (MRT) stations and in between stations.

No buffering

Salalima said during the launch that initial tests of the new service,which is jointly provided by the government and local telco rivals Smart Communications and Globe Telecom, is capable of speeds in excess of 300Mbps.

During the Unang Balita interview, Rio said over 1,000 people should be able to access the free Wi-Fi at once at different access points.

He assured the public that they can play an average length video without buffering.

"At that speed, mga hanggang 1,000 per access point at that speed. Talagang binigyan ho ng malaking bandwidth yung mga access points ng free Wi-Fi sa EDSA para kahit ganyang karaming tao magkonekta ay hindi bababa," Rio said.

Rio, meanwhile, said that each would be given a 30-minute access to the free Wi-Fi from each service providers -- Smart, Globe and the DICT's Pipol Konek.

"Ang mga telcos eh katulad nung sa airport natin, yung first 30 minutes yung libre. Pero yung Globe accessible kahit sa mga Smart subscribers and vice versa. So kunyari ho yung isang subscriber ay nag-connect sa Globe at natapos na ang thirty minutes niya pwede ho siyang mag-connect sa Smart. At kung matapos yung 30 minutes niya, pwedeng mag-connect sa DICT, sa gobyernong free Wi-Fi," Rio said.

"Kasi kung sa DICT Wi-Fi lang sila magkonekta, mabubulunan talaga. Kasi tingnan n'yo naman milyun-milyon ho ang gumagamit ng EDSA araw araw. So yun nga, gamitin nila yung tatlo, kung palipatlipat sila pwede hong makapag-free internet habang nagbabiyahe ho," he added.

The project is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte's directive that the government shojld provide free Wi-Fi services in public areas nationwide. —Marlly Rome C. Bondoc/ALG, GMA News