DICT expands free Wi-Fi access in Northern Samar

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has activated 236 free Wi-Fi sites across all 24 municipalities in Northern Samar. These sites, primarily located in public schools and community spaces, aim to provide residents and students with access to online learning, government services, and employment opportunities.

The expansion includes 155 sites under the Wi-Fi in Northern Samar (WiNS) Project and 81 sites under the Public Internet Connectivity and Services Program (PICS-PP) Phase 2. To further support education, the DICT distributed 1,821 Bayanihan SIM cards to students in the municipalities of Victoria and Laoang.

In conjunction with these infrastructure developments, the DICT has launched a public free Wi-Fi monitoring tool. The system provides real-time data on site availability, connectivity, and uptime, allowing users to filter by region, province, or municipality. This tool is intended to increase transparency and accountability within the Free Wi-Fi for All program by allowing the public to verify service status and report outages.