The Department of Information and Communication (DICT) continues to loaf in its pace to reach 50,000 free internet sites , with a targeted deployment of only 300 sites in underserved and unserved areas across the country.
To date, the Free Wi-Fi program has deployed between 18,000 and 19,000 sites and plans to increase this by some 30,000 to make a dent on its original rollout target by 2026. It plans to do this through partnerhips with local government units, telecom firms and the Department of Education (DepEd), among others.
A document posted on the DICT website announced that the agency bid out the P139.2 million contract for a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Internet Service Subscription project, which aims to provide internet access to 300 fixed location throughout the Philippines.
These sites are distributed as follows: 46 sites in CAR, Regions I to III; 48 in Regions IV-A, IV-B, and V; 58 in Regions VI to VIII; 86 in Regions IX, X, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM-BASULTA area); and 62 in Regions XI to XIII and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao area.
DICT said the bid opening is scheduled on September 3, 2025 and the selected service provider is required to deliver the internet service at all locations within sixty days upon receipt of the Notice to Proceed (NTP), followed by six months of service coverage.
The project requires a service availability of 98 percent or above per month with a download bandwidth of 3 to 30 megabits per second per location and an upload bandwidth of 1 to 25 Mbps per location, featuring unlimited data allocation.
For next year, DICT announced that it will will deploy free wifi in around 10,000 to 12,000 health centers and hospitals, and potentially tens of thousands of barangay halls. No specifics were given how the rollout will be achieved.
DICT has allocated roughly P3 billion to P4 billion yearly for Free Wifi Free Wi-Fi program
Last June, DICT in partnership with telecommunications companies, started rolling out the Bayanihan SIM program, which provides free SIM cards to students and teachers in public schools targeting to connect up to 5 million Filipinos by the end of the year.
