Free public Wi-Fi? Gasp! Is it too good to be true? The Department of Science and Technology is spearheading a project that will implement a free public Wi-Fi system starting July of this year. Given the oddball reputation that Internet service providers enjoy (or suffer) here in the Philippines, looking into the fine lines of this endeavor may be worth a look.
First of all, it really is free. Looking at the brochure prepared by DOST, there are no hidden charges on the consumer level. And it really is public. Coverage area for the free Wi-Fi will include: public parks and plazas, public primary and secondary central schools, public libraries, rural health and government hospitals, state universities and colleges, train stations of the MRT and LRT, airports and seaports, city and municipal halls, and national government offices. The emphasis here is really on “public.” Don’t expect to have Wi-Fi on the streets of the metro yet. Free public Wi-Fi will cover public areas, not including streets and roads.
Second, how’s the quality? According to a fair usage policy, the project will “deliver Internet access with a user experience not higher than the lowest service level provided by commercial Internet access services, at least in the served areas.” If you’re crying over slow Internet speeds from the major telcos, don’t expect improvements. While it is public Wi-Fi, the project will take care not to cannibalize on the profits enjoyed by private ISPs.
Third, will it be limited? How free it will be remains to be seen, but the brochure doesn’t hold a very optimistic outcome. The free Wi-Fi can be accessed in three levels. The first level is the simplest. It involves a simple online registration and prompt for terms and regulations from your device’s ID. Think of the registration you encounter when accessing a mall’s public Wi-Fi. The second level is more complex. It involves presenting a government-issued ID through a registration authority or through a proposed online registration system. It also involves 2-factor authentication which includes mobile phones and emails. The third level involves a Citizen’s Digital ID which will require a personal appearance during the registration process.
These levels are where the brochure gets blurry. It offers no information as to how regular consumers will be classified into levels 2 or 3, only how. This should concern the regular consumer because a data cap will be implemented for each level. As seen in the table below, the cap for level 1 is a measly 50MB per day and a laughable assurance of “none.” Furthermore, the sites allowable for each level is different. Levels 1 and 2 are limited to only news, education, government, social networking, and selected public email websites. For the regular consumer, this is adequate enough, but relative to Level 3 which is only restricted from blacklisted websites, this may be a bit limiting.
Of course, it’s still too early to bash this project to the ground. It has three to four months to prepare a marketing plan. The brochure promises an overarching social media marketing plan that will inform the general public to the service. It will need more clarification especially to the more general public regarding its usage for it to go off without a hitch or a hurdle. But I’d stick to my mobile data plan first.
Source: DOST
