House approves free public wi-fi act

MANILA — The House of Representatives has approved a bill that will mandate free public wireless internet access in public buildings, terminals, parks, and plazas nationwide.

“The proposed Free Public Wi-Fi Act seeks to address the country’s problem of interconnectivity by providing free public access point in all major public places,” the authors said, following the third reading passage of House Bill No. 5791.

HB 5791 is a substitute bill replacing Kabataan Party List Rep. Terry L. Ridon’s House Bill No. 1550.

The bill was earlier approved and defended in plenary by the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology chaired by Rep. Joel Roy R. Duavit (1st District, Rizal) and Rep. Ridon himself.

Co-authors of the substitute measure include: Reps. Xavier Jesus D. Romualdo; Mariano Michael M. Velarde, Jr.; Francis Gerald A. Abaya; Monique Yazmin Q. Lagdameo, Antonio L. Tinio and Jonathan Dela Cruz.

HB 5791 mandates the installation of broadband hot spots in all national government offices, state universities and colleges, public parks and plazas, public hospitals and public transportation terminals.

The bill also mandates that access to internet shall not be restricted with passwords, except when there is a clear and present security or technical risk.

The installation of broadband hotspots in all public spaces shall be finished within two years upon implementation of the act.

The bill also provides that no fees shall be collected for users to connect to the internet using the public broadband hot spots, or the free public wi-fi network.

The bill, furthermore, protects the right to privacy of those who will connect to the free public wi-fi networks.