DOST eyes 'offline internet' access for remote areas in 2016

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has asked Congress for a P1.6-billion budget to continue providing free Wi-Fi access across the country next year, and allow remote areas without Internet connections to access information offline.

 

For 2016, DOST plans to continue providing free Wi-Fi access to 7,118 sites across 967 municipalities and 43 cities in the country, Undersecretary Louis Napoleon Casambre told lawmakers at the agency’s budget briefing at the House of Representatives Thursday.

 

The sites where free Wi-Fi will be available include plazas and parks, public schoolyards and libraries, public spaces in rural health units, public spaces in government offices, and transport terminals.

 

Full implementation by yearend

 

At the sidelines of the hearing, Casambre said the DOST has already awarded 25 percent of the contracts for the free Wi-Fi implementation. The agency targets the full implementation of the project by the end of the year.

 

For 2016, Casambre said DOST plans to roll out the “Offline Internet for Remote Areas” (OIRA) service so that residents in far-flung areas can still access information.

 

“[The OIRA] is a one-way service that transmits static information from the Internet to remote sites, so habang naghihintay ang mga kababayan natin ng actual connectivity, they will already be able to access important information offline such as weather maps and books,” he explained.

 

Removal of speed cap

 

Though the total bandwidth capacity for the free Wi-Fi access will remain the same, Casambre said the DOST has already removed the 256 kilobytes per second (kbps) cap on Internet access. 

 

“What this (removal of speed cap) means is that if a site is lightly loaded, if a user— kunwari mag-isa lang siya doon— they’ll be able to utilize the full bandwidth for the site,” he said.

 

DOST has proposed a budget of P17.9 billion for 2016, a slight increase from its current budget of P17.7 billion. — TJD, GMA News