SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian said the Senate has increased the budget allocation for free pubic wi-fi from P2.5 billion to P7.5 billion under the 2025 proposed national budget.
Gatchalian said at the hearing of the budget of the Department of Information and Communication Technology, bulk of the budget will go to the education sector.
This will give learners from far-flung areas will have access to the internet, Gatchalian said.
“Mr. President, the demand for free public wi-fi is definitely on the top of the list of many agencies, including the education sector. In fact, because of my engagement with the education sector, it’s difficult for the education sector to go into online learning or distance learning without access to the internet. So definitely, if we can rollout free public wi-fi and prioritize schools, that would be the best case,” he said.
“The aim there is to increase the access points and increase the locations to areas where students and also communities don’t have access to the internet,” he added.
Gatchalian said that another project the DICT will be embarking on is the improvement of the fiber optic backbone. This will lower the cost of internet subscriptions of local government units and national agencies that will connect to the “last mile areas.”
