Free internet access seen in RoRo ports

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is spending more than P37 million to provide free access to the internet for travelers in roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) ports.

The DICT is bidding out a P37.06-million contract aimed at equipping 67 ports nationwide with internet sites for the use of travelers.

Based on the bidding documents, the winning contractor for the project has to bring WiFi access to 29 ports in Luzon, 18 in Visayas and 20 in Mindanao.

If the contractor uses satellites, the required download speed must range from 100 Mbps to 220 Mbps, and the minimum upload speed must be 10 Mbps. Latency, or the turnaround time for data transfer, has to be quicker than 100 milliseconds.

If the contractor relies on fiber, the DICT requires an average download speed of 150 Mbps. The agency also expects a faster latency of below 50 ms.

The project covers some of the most congested ports for RoRo vessels in the Philippines, such as in Manila, Batangas, Calapan and Matnog, to cater to the connectivity needs of as many travelers as possible.

The DICT will hold a pre-bid conference for the project on Sept. 10, setting the submission deadline and opening of proposals on Sept. 23.

Once the agency issues the notice of award, the contractor must start installing the internet sites within 30 days, and the project will last for four months, or until Dec. 31, 2024, whichever is earlier.

The DICT will source the budget from the special account in the general fund for the Free Public Internet Access Program (FPIAP). The agency puts up WiFi sites in public spaces and state-run schools through the FPIAP.

The program has received an annual allocation of P2.5 billion since 2022, and is set to obtain the same amount in 2025. So far, the DICT has switched on more than 12,000 sites under the FPIAP, but President Marcos wants to expand the program to connect more Filipinos to the web.

The DICT estimates that it would require as much as P9 billion every year to widen the reach of the FPIAP.