The Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is reportedly preparing to tender a contract worth just over PHP37 million (around US$652,540) to roll out free wireless internet access services in 67 “roll-on, roll-off” (RoRo) ports across the country.
According to the Philippine Star, the bidding documents state that the winning contractor for the project has to install Wi-Fi access in 29 RoRo ports in Luzon, 18 in Visayas and 20 in Mindanao. (RoRo ports specialise in cargo ships transporting vehicles that can be driven on and off the vessel via ramps, as opposed to lifting them with cranes.)
The contractor gets to decide what backhaul technology to use, but the contract sets speed performance requirements specific to the technology used. For example, for satellite backhaul, download speeds must range between 100 Mbps and 220 Mbps, with a minimum uplink speed of 10 Mbps and a round-trip latency of less than 100 milliseconds.
For fibre backhaul, the Wi-Fi access points must support an average download speed of 150 Mbps and a latency of less than 50 milliseconds, the report said.
DICT has set a submission deadline of September 23 for interested players. Whoever wins the contract will be required to start installation within 30 days, and complete the project within four months, or by the end of this year, whichever is earlier, the report added.
The budget for the project comes from the the special account in the general fund for the Free Public Internet Access Program (FPIAP), which has been installing free Wi-Fi is public spaces and state-run schools. The FPIAP has had annual budget of PHP2.5 billion since 2022.
The RoRo project is mandated under a law signed in April 2019 by then-President Rodrigo Duterte that requires all transport terminals in the Philippines to have free internet services, as well as clean sanitary facilities, adequate ventilation, and lactation stations.
DICT is tasked with implementing the free internet services under the law in coordination with the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
