The Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce & Industry will be embarking on a new free Wi-Fi project with internet service provider Starlink and the Department of Information & Communications Technology-Negros Island Region.
NOCCI President Edward Du, in his message of support during the DICT-NIR Bayanihan Roadshow here Wednesday, said the endeavor is similar to the one that the chamber launched eight years ago, which, however, never came to fruition.
“Our vision at the time was “888”, representing 80 public schools to be provided with free Wi-Fi within eight years and with eight donors,” Du said.
The NOCCI-led Public-Private Partnership Off-grid Internet Project, in cooperation with the Department of Education and DICT, was launched on June 18, 2017 in Amlan, Negros Oriental.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a typhoon that “wiped out the infrastructure”, it did not take off.
Du said this time, they have a new “888“ project with Starlink as its provider, targeting 80,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises in 800 schools nationwide in eight years.
He is looking forward to a collaboration with the DICT-NIR similar to that with the DICT in Central Visayas (Region 7) years ago.
In August of last year, NOCCI and DICT launched a project involving 85 Starlink satellites for free WiFi in the Negros Island Region.
The Starlink satellite dishes will be installed in 25 local government units, 40 public schools, five hospitals, and 20 public plazas under the newly-created Negros Island Region, the NOCCI website said. (Judy F. Partlow)
