Gov't allots P7.5 billion for free Wi-Fi, eyes 50,000 public hotspots in 2025
About 50,000 public hotspots will be created in the Philippines to provide free internet access to Filipinos after the budget for the "Free Wi-Fi for All" program tripled to P7.5 billion in 2025.
"We are counting on the expansion of free Wi-Fi hotspots to improve public access to online learning and distance education, especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas," Rep. Luis Campos Jr., the husband of Makati mayor Abby Binay, said.
The congressman, who's running for Makati mayor in the 2025 midterm elections, called for faster mobile internet speeds to boost productivity.
"Slow internet speeds result in productivity loss," he said, adding that he hopes free internet connections would help Filipinos in rural communities access online resources such as government skills training services.
Congress allocated P7.5 billion for free Wi-Fi in the 2025 General Appropriations Law. This amount is three times more than the budget in 2024.
In September 2024, Campos said that the Department of Information and Technology would need to put up 36,538 new hotspots on top of the 13,462 built in June 2024 to reach the 50,000 target.
"Money is not a problem because the Free Internet Access in Public Places Law provides dedicated and sustained funding from the spectrum user fees collected by the government every year from private telecommunications companies," he stated at the time.
He also renewed his call for Congress to pass a new law enabling regulators to compel private telcos to deliver faster mobile speeds.
In May 2024, Campos refiled his proposal to penalize telcos failing to supply faster internet speeds within fixed deadlines.
Under House Bill 10215, telcos would be fined up to P1 million per day or P365 million a year until they comply with compulsory internet speed targets.
Ookla's December 2024 Global Speedtest Index showed that the average mobile internet speed in the Philippines was 36.36Mbps. The country lags behind other Southeast Asian nations like Thailand (65.47Mbps), Vietnam (86.96Mbps), Malaysia (105.36Mbps), and Singapore (129.13Mbps).
