DICT Targets 15 LGUs to be Wired Up This Year

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) targets 15 local government units (LGUs) in Cebu to have access to free and fast wifi services.

Engr. Royden Rusiana, DICT assistant regional director, said that since the agency was founded earlier this year, they already set a target of wiring up 15 LGUs in the province.

Rusiana recently gave a briefing on government’s information technology efforts to members of the Cebu Association of City and Municipal Public Information Officers (CAOCAMPIO) during their monthly meeting.

“It is the aim of President Rodrigo Duterte for every Filipino to have access to a faster and costless internet connection straight to the grassroots,” Rusiana said.

Of the 15 LGU’s, five are component cities.

There will be 26 sites in Naga City; Toledo City, 14 sites; Bogo City, 17; and Carcar City, 14.

The towns include San Francisco, Samboan, Alegria , Tabuelan , Alcoy, Lilo-an , Cordova, San Fernando, Carmen and Dumanjug.

“Mandatory sites are municipal halls, rural health units, hospitals and public schools,” he said.

Rusiana said the whole province of Cebu has an allocation of one gigabyte in the nationwide “Juan Konek” project.

The LGU just need a space for the infrastructure and then it will be up to the LGU to identify the prioritized areas.

Other than that, there has to be an authority given by the Sangguniang Bayan and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), he said.

Rusiana explained that the new technology will make use of the TV white space.

“It is the technology of the TV used in internet, this can penetrate thru mountains and penetrate in walls and trees. It is the future of communication,” Rusiana said.

The public information officers invited DICT to equip their LGUs in the implementation of the Freedom of Information (FOI) directive of President Duterte.

During his first State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Duterte directed the newly-created DICT to develop a national broadband plan to accelerate the deployment of fiber optics cables and wireless technologies to improve Internet speed. (rmn/fcc/PIA7-Cebu)