The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Thursday rolled out free public WiFi in three areas inside government establishments.

Led by Assistant Secretary Felino Castro V, the WiFi hotspots were set up inside the JR Borja General Hospital, City Tourism Hall at the City Hall compound, and the Heroes Ward Camp Evangelista Station Hospital in Barangay Patag.

Castro said Cagayan de Oro has 320 allocated WiFi hotspots to be completed in 2022.

Next year, the DICT plans to connect at least 80 to 100 sites consisting of different government facilities such as barangay halls, city and municipal halls, public schools, public parks, and government hospitals.

“The internet connection per site will cost around PHP600,000 with a strength of 26 Megabytes per second (Mbps), with an installation of a fiber-optic broadband backbone to prevent low signal when WiFi sites in the city are already in saturation,” Castro said.

The DICT has a target of 104,000 WiFi sites nationwide to be accomplished in year 2022, and 30,000 of these are targeted for completion before the given timeline.

“What is our challenge now is to ask and educate Filipino netizens to be responsible citizens in not providing fake news and disinformation,” Castro said.

Castro said the installation of free WiFi in two government hospitals was the first of its kind in Mindanao.

City’s business and economic consultant Eileen San Juan described the city as a trailblazer when it comes to Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

San Juan noted that the city was awarded the “Best Online Payment System” throughout the country in 2016. The existing free WiFi hotspot within the City Hall area, she said, has benefited some 3,000 residents.

In his speech, Mayor Oscar Moreno thanked the DICT for partnering with local government units to enable them to catch up with the latest trends in digital development.

“We need a convergence of ideas to swiftly catch the trend,” Moreno said. (PNA)