The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) increased the rollout of its Free Wi-Fi for All Program (FW4A) by 500 percent last year.
For 2020 alone, the DICT put up 4,305 live sites within the year, bringing the total to 7,556 active live sites as of December 28, 2020.
From 2016 to 2019, the FW4A only averaged 800 sites per year, deploying a total of 3,251 live sites in 3 years.
With the latest addition of 4,305 sites in 1 year, the DICT more than doubled the total number of sites deployed nationwide.
“The Free Wi-Fi for All program fulfills DICT's marching orders to connect every Filipino to each other, to their government, and to the world," remarked Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II.
The Free Wi-Fi for All Program, meant to provide free internet access sites in public places nationwide, is one of the flagship programs of the DICT.
The program has been continually reevaluated and redesigned to address major issues, such as procurement of crucial network components and the difficulty of some suppliers to deliver contractual obligations.
As a result, the DICT managed to use 93.89 per cent of its FW4A budget for 2019.
The overall utilization rate of the department’s total 2019 budget stands at 80 per cent as of December 31, 2020.
President Rodrigo Duterte extended the availability of the 2019 national budget until December 31, 2020 due to the delay in its approval and the remaining unobligated funds of the national government.
The DICT also enhanced its capacity to implement other programs and projects by regularizing majority of its current workforce in 2020 and rehabilitating its facilities.