Lanao Sur Gov Adiong pushes free Wifi-for-All roll-out

By MASIDING NOOR YAHYA

October 31, 2019

Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr.

MARAWI CITY: Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong, Jr. is pushing free Wifi-for-All roll out in all municipalities of the province.

In a memorandum dated October 23, Adiong urged all city and municipal mayors of the province to facilitate the rapid roll-out of the Free Wifi-for-All Program.

The program is a flagship project of the Department of Communications and Information Technology (DICT) that aims to provide free internet to 104,867 sites across the Philippines by 2022.

Over the last three years, the DICT under Secretary Gregorio Honasan 2nd, has faced the Challenge of reaching the last mile and providing internet access to the most remote and disadvantaged communities in the country. To date, much of their efforts have been focused on more populated areas with better telecommunication infrastructure in place.

To reach 6,000 remote areas where connectivity is most needed, the DICT tapped the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). By January 2020 — nine months into the partnership — UNDP aims to reach 4,500 far-flung, at-risk and vulnerable sites. Of these chosen locations, over 1,000 are in the Lanao del Sur. The Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has also expressed its support for the program. (The Manila Times)