Davao City Council has approved a second reading on a request to authorise Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to enter into an agreement to bring free Wifi to the city.
The Free Wi-Fi Project as it’s called, will be deployed in public school yards, lobbies of hospitals, rural health units, local government halls, libraries, seaports, airports, plazas and parks and public terminals.
The 50mbps per day, per walk-in individual service limit will be implemented – the use of such access sites will be granted by the use of any government-issued identification.
A filtering system will be implemented so that video streaming, social media platforms and pornography will not be accessed.
Officials said the system is being designed for emails, education, news, government social networking and some selected public email systems.
Authorities noted that the City Government employees will not be liable in case of loss, destruction or robbery of such equipment being installed to bring the free service to specific areas.
Davao is leaving it up to the service provider to install the equipment properly, out of the rain and secure enough to not be tampered or stolen.
Davao City is attempting to modernise its city, but citizens wonder about the new Wifi service being offered when the city cannot even keep power supplies on to access the noted forthcoming hotspots.
Davao city is the fourth most populous city in the Philippines, as well as the most populated city on Mindanao. The city contains 182 barangays in all, creating what some believe will be a logistical nightmare for setting up the free Wifi systems throughout the city.