{"id":11570,"date":"2014-05-22T23:28:51","date_gmt":"2014-05-22T15:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=11570"},"modified":"2014-05-22T23:54:19","modified_gmt":"2014-05-22T15:54:19","slug":"recto-files-free-metro-manila-wifi-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/05\/22\/recto-files-free-metro-manila-wifi-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Recto files Free Metro Manila WiFi Act"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ShutterStock image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA — An act that would mandate the government to provide free wireless internet access in\u00a0key locations in the National Capital Region was recently filed by Senate President Pro\u00a0Tempore Ralph Recto in the Senate.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill No. 2232 or the \u201cFree Metro Manila WiFi Act of 2014 will provide free\u00a0internet access to public buildings and facilities, parks and national roads in the\u00a0metropolis with broadband hotspots that will offer a stable internet connection to\u00a0encourage discourse and trade in internet-related goods, services and content.<\/p>\n

While the entire country is still eyeing for the installation of a national broadband in the\u00a0country, the said project will be using existing commercial ISPs.<\/p>\n

The said project will be using funds from the National Telecommunications Commission\u00a0(NTC) and from savings under the General Appropriations Act.<\/p>\n

The national and local government offices, public hospitals and health centers, public\u00a0schools including state colleges and universities, public parks, the Ninoy Aquino\u00a0International Airport, public libraries, tollways and expressways, Epifanio delos Santos\u00a0Avenue (EDSA) and other national roads, public transport terminals, the Port of Manila\u00a0and railway stations, including those of MRT and LRT, are among the key areas which\u00a0will be provided with broadband hotspots.<\/p>\n

The bill also specifically mandates that the said public places be guaranteed with a\u00a0range of broadband hotspot for a period of two years and that there should not be any\u00a0password restrictions and fees should not be collected from the users upon using the\u00a0internet connection.<\/p>\n

Recto emphasized in the bill\u2019s explanatory note the importance of providing internet\u00a0access to those living in the country\u2019s capital region.<\/p>\n

“Allowing free wireless internet access in key public places in NCR means providing\u00a0access to the underserved in our society, including getting low-income people online,”\u00a0Recto explained.<\/p>\n

“Connectivity to the internet will enhance business growth opportunities and will assure\u00a0citizens in NCR ease of sourcing timely information at the click of a button,” Recto\u00a0added.<\/p>\n

With reports from Jojo Malig and Louis Bacani<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA — An act that would mandate the government to provide free wireless internet access in\u00a0key locations in the National …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":11571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,95,5],"tags":[3885,600,3886],"class_list":["post-11570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news-ph","category-technology","tag-free-wifi","tag-manila","tag-ralph-recto","mauthors-lei-fontamillas","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}