UP inks free wi-fi deal with Smart

MANILA, Philippines - The University of the Philippines (UP) has signed a memorandum of agreement with Smart Communications Inc. that will provide free wi-fi connection in all its campuses across the country.

Student Regent Neill John Macuha, who earlier questioned the terms of the agreement, said the UP Board of Regents junked his appeal yesterday and subsequently affirmed the agreement.

Last month, UP president Alfredo Pascual led university officials in signing the agreement with the telecommunications company.

Under the agreement, websites “whitelisted” by Smart and UP can be accessed for free over wi-fi in UP campuses. Sites that are not whitelisted can still be accessed for free for 30 minutes daily.

Smart said it will install an initial 120 hotspots in various UP campuses. 

“The hotspots will be a catalyst in unifying the seven universities and one constituent college of the UP system, and will signal the start of greater collaboration between UP and Smart in bringing Philippine education into the 21st century,” Pascual said in a statement.

Following the signing of the agreement, Macuha – in a four-page motion for reconsideration – said the board was misinformed when a university official said the deal with Smart has no cost to UP.

He cited the statement of UP vice president for development Elvira Zamora, who told the regents that “UP will not pay anything at all” for the deal.

Macuha said the memorandum of agreement showed otherwise as the electricity costs of the wi-fi hotspots and access points that will be established by Smart will have to be shouldered by the university.

Instead of paying for the electricity costs, the student regent said UP should use the money to upgrade the existing wireless connectivity in various campuses.

“Paying for the costs of another wireless connectivity, on top of an existing service slims down further the insufficient budget allocated to the university,” Macuha said.

UP said the deal is part of the integrated computerization of the university under the eUP project, a key initiative under its strategic plan that aims to make UP more competitive in the region and in the world.