Government mulls reducing free Wi-Fi

MANILA, Philippines — Claiming that Filipinos are using free Wi-Fi sites to stream videos and scroll through social media, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is considering regulating data allowance provided under the Free Public Internet Access Program.

The FPIAP is provided an annual funding of at least P2.5 billion, enabling the DICT to establish internet sites in public spaces such as government offices and schools.

Free 100-megabyte data cap is being studied by the DICT. Excess data consumed will be charged.

“Utilization rate of the FPIAP is very high. We need to find ways to regulate the utilization because it is currently unlimited and we notice that they use it for unproductive purposes,” DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said.

“One of the strategies we are looking at to make it sustainable is your first 100 MB is free, but beyond that, you have to start paying,” he said.

The P2.5-billion allocation for FPIAP will be insufficient to bankroll the maintenance of internet sites soon, especially as the DICT keeps on expanding the reach of the program, according to Uy.

Around 10 million Filipinos, mostly in underserved areas, benefit from the program.

Spectrum user fees are collected by the government from telecommunications firms to finance the FPIAP.

Blocking access to sites deemed unproductive is also being studied by the DICT.

The agency may also focus on data allocation for students.

“Those who want to use more, they can pay for it. The funding can be used to provide the necessary subsidy for the other free Wi-Fi sites,” Uy said.