The Office of the Ombudsman said Friday that it had uncovered an anomalous scheme involving network providers that have entered into contracts with the government, an issue it labeled as “ghost internet.”

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano explained that—similar to infrastructure projects—there were some contractors that provided equipment that was substandard when it came to the specific requirements the government was looking for.

He noted that due to the lack of proper checking in terms of the agency that procures the service, some providers “install cheaper, outdated, or even fake software while still charging the government full price for the real thing.”

“Because nobody verifies the software after the hardware is approved, the overpricing goes undetected. It only comes out when the system breaks down or when someone digs deeply enough to find it,” Clavano said.

The official expressed that the investigations would mainly revolve around the Department of Information and Communications Technology and would look to identify gaps in the services and payment of network providers throughout the country.

Citing an example, Clavano pointed to “free wifi” that was provided within the buildings of government agencies that often fail to work.

“They say that there is free internet, free wifi, but they had just placed a router, equipment that doesn’t really provide wifi. It’s just a show, they will charge the government so much billions of money but there is no service,” he said.

Clavano clarified that the matter was only at the fact-finding stage at this point and maintained that the Ombudsman would be updating the public on the matter at “the soonest possible time.”