DICT: More places will get free WiFi by 2026

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) announced Wednesday that local government centers, including barangay halls and health centers, will be connected to the internet by 2026 under the Free WiFi for All program.

DICT Secretary Henry Aguda made the announcement during post-State of the Nation Address discussions, saying that the DICT’s current priority, as ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is to provide free internet to all Department of Education (DepEd) schools.

“Because our priority now is all DepEd schools, so we will finish that,” Aguda said. “Then next year, we will be expanding to health services and barangay halls. So that when you go to the barangay halls, you can use not only free but also good WiFi.”

To ensure uniformity and help the public connect easily and securely, the DICT is coordinating with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to standardize the Service Set Identifier (SSID) for public WiFi networks.

“Now it’s confusing. Some people pretend to be free WiFi but they take your data. We will standardize that in the coming weeks,” Aguda said.

Additionally, the government will soon require users to present their National ID when connecting to free WiFi, allowing for user tracking on the network.

The DICT is also pushing to distribute nearly one million Bayanihan SIM cards by the end of this year. This initiative aims to connect approximately five million Filipinos in isolated areas to the internet, particularly supporting students in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas engaged in online learning.