DICT: Free WiFi sites doubled in 2020

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Monday said it doubled the number of its live sites for the free wifi program in 2020, after deploying over 4,000 during the year.

In a statement on Monday, the DICT said it deployed 4,305 sites in 2020, bringing the total active live sites to 7,556 as of December 28, 2020 from 3,251 in 2019.

"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 word," said DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan II.

"So from day one we immediately went into analyzing factors that may speed-up the implementation and applied the needed reforms," he added.

The DICT in January 2018 announced plans to put up 250,000 WiFi access points across the country before 2022, when the six-year term of President Rodrigo Duterte ends.

In August 2017, Duterte signed Republic Act. 10929, also known as the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act, mandating that the government should provide free internet access in public spaces across the country. -NB, GMA News