BATASAN HILLS, Quezon City — With this year's budget for the 'Free Wi-Fi for All' program tripled to ₱7.5 billion, lawmakers at the House of Representatives are pushing for the creation of about 50,000 public hotspots that would provide free internet access to the public.

According to Makati City District II representative Luis Jose Angel Campos Jr.,
they are now eyeing for the expansion of free Wi-Fi hotspots to improve public access to online learning and distance education, especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

Campos, husband of incumbent Makati mayor Mar-len Abigail 'Abby' Binay, is calling for faster mobile internet speeds to boost productivity as he hopes that free internet connections would help Filipinos in rural communities access online resources, such as government skills training services.

"Slow internet speeds result in productivity loss," he pointed out while seeking support to pass a new law enabling regulators to compel private telcos to deliver faster mobile speeds.

In this regard, Campos, who is currently an aspirant for mayor of Makati in the upcoming midterm election in May, had refiled in the middle of last year his proposal to penalize telecommunications companies (telcos) or communication service providers who fail to supply faster internet speeds within fixed deadlines.

Under House Bill 10215, telcos would be fined up to ₱1 million per day or ₱365 million a year until they comply with compulsory internet speed targets.

Based on the December 2024 Global Speedtest Index issued by internet speed testing firm Ookla, the average mobile internet speed in the Philippines is at 36.36Mbps. The country lags behind other Southeast Asian nations like Thailand (65.47Mbps), Vietnam (86.96Mbps), Malaysia (105.36Mbps) and Singapore (129.13Mbps).

In ending, Campos clarified that in order to ensure the success of the 'Free Wi-Fi' program, the Department of Information and Technology (DICT) would need to put up 36,538 new hotspots on top of the 13,462 that was set up in June last year 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 concluded.