Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 11) — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Wednesday said hundreds of remote barangays now have internet access through the administration’s Broadband ng Masa project.
In partnership with internet firm Kacific and its local distributor Stellarsat, the DICT said 438 Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) across the Northern Luzon provinces of Benguet, Kalinga, Ifugao, Ilocos Norte, Quezon, and Pangasinan have been provided with free wifi.
Over 400 users can connect to the internet per site, with a speed of 30mbps for downloads and 10mbps for uploads.
However, DICT secretary John Uy admitted that he is unsure about the project’s sustainability.
“Depende yan eh kung tuloy tuloy ang pondo tuloy-tuloy ang connectivity,” he said. “Kung mawala ang pondo, mawawala ang connectivity.”
“Ganoon lang po iyon eh so its indefinite so long as funds are indefinite, that’s what we need to address with Congress,” he added.
[Translation: That depends on whether the funding continues and then connectivity continues. If funding is lost, connectivity will be lost. That’s just the way it is, so its indefinite as long as funds are indefinite, that’s what we need to address with Congress.]
The agency’s data showed around 12,000 barangays are considered GIDA.
