PILI, CAMARINES SUR — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the provincial government here virtually connected 19 Camarines Sur towns to the cyberspace with the installation of free public Wi-Fi, in a ceremony held at the Capitol Convention Complex on Monday.
Enrico Toledo, manager of DICT’s Free Public Wi-Fi Project, or “Pipol Konek”, said the installation of Wi-Fi connection in Camarines Sur towns is part of the PHP1.4-billion nationwide implementation of the project covering 1,632 cities, municipal and provincial governments, which the department started in late 2016.
Among the beneficiary Camarines Sur towns of the DICT’s Pipol Konek include Baao, Balatan, Bato, Cabusao, Camaligan, Del Gallego, Garchitorena, Lupi, Magarao, Milaor and Minalabac.
Also covered by the free public Wi-Fi connection under the project are the towns of Pamplona, Pasacao, Pili, Presentacion, San Jose, Sagñay, and Tigaon.
“Camarines Sur has the highest rate in the number of towns now connected to the free public Wi-Fi of the DICT, comprising 54 percent of the province’s municipalities,” Toledo said.
Toledo said the 24/7 Wi-Fi access point are installed in plazas and public libraries with a minimum speed of 2 mega bytes (MB), and extends its signal within a radius of 500 meters.
He noted the DICT will monitor the actual number of users within the access point and add capacity once signs of slowing down or stoppage occur due to the number of users.
Gov. Miguel Luis Villafuerte said the free public Wi-Fi connections in the 19 towns of Camarines Sur under the Pipol Konek are on top of the free public Wi-Fi connection the provincial government had installed in Iriga City Park and Nabua Public Market.
Villafuerte said the provincial government has also installed free public Wi-Fi in 88 public schools in the towns of Pili, Bula, Minalabac, and Milaor with its Information and Communications, Archives, and Records Management Office (ICARMO) had earlier implemented.
Camarines Sur comprises 35 towns. (Juan Escandor, Jr/PNA)
