DICT Flagged Over Poor Implementation Of WiFi Program

The Commission on Audit (COA) has admonished the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) over the poor implementation of the P12-billion Free WiFi for All Program.

In its annual audit report on the DICT, the COA noted that based on the DICT Program Management Office (PMO)’s own accomplishment report, the agency was only able to set up 11,618 free WiFi sites in public places nationwide from 2016 to 2021, as against its physical target of 34,442 free WiFi sites by the end of 2021.

The Free WiFi for All Program started its implementation in 2015 under the administration of the late former president Benigno Aquino III pursuant to Republic Act No. 10929, or the Free Internet Access for All Act.

The program is set to be implemented until 2025 with the ultimate target of setting up a total of 104,493 free WiFi sites nationwide.

The COA’s record showed that from 2015 to 2021, a total of P12.091 billion has already been allocated by the national government to the DICT for the implementation of the Free WiFi for All Program, of which P10.339 billion has been obligated by the DICT.

Obligated fund refers to the amount already set aside for payments of the agency’s various expenditures, commitments, transactions or obligations.

Among reasons cited by the DICT PMO for its low accomplishment rate were delays in procurement, difficulty in securing the necessary authorization and permits as well as memorandum of agreement (MOA) and technicalities on the network architecture of the project, according to the COA.

“These issues should have been factored in during the planning stage, taking into consideration the readiness of the project, risk analysis and statements, technical feasibility, operational viability and capability of the PMO or human resources capital to implement the project,” the COA said.

“On account that the said challenges were incurred during the early stages of the implementation, the three-year experience should have taught the department the necessary measures to be undertaken to meet the set targets for the succeeding years,” it added.

The auditing body also revealed that upon verification of the accomplishment report of the DICT PMO, it was found out that of the reported 11,618 established free WiFi sites, only 9,248 have been proven to exist as of last March 3.

Of the existing free WiFi sites, only 4,712 have been found to be operational, while 2,664 sites have been under maintenance and 1,872 sites have been deactivated.

The COA said the number of existing free WiFi sites was further reduced to 6,658, based on the latest monitoring last April 13. Of this figure, 2,890 sites were found to be operational while 3,768 were under maintenance.

It added that the previous deactivated sites were no longer recovered.

The PMO reasoned that some of the sites were deactivated due to termination of service contracts with several private suppliers.

The continued reduction of the free WiFi sites from 11,618 to 9,248 then to 6,658 only showed that the DICT failed to develop a sustainability plan “to ensure stability and permanency of the internet services,” according to the COA.

The auditing body stressed that the current figure was way below the DICT’s target of 15,169 operational WiFi sites by end of 2021.

“Thus, from the significant reduction of sites attributed to the termination of service contracts and defects in the installed sites to its non-immediate recovery, it can be deduced that the department lacks the sustainability measures to ensure the continuous operability of the already installed sites contrary to Section 5 (a) of RA 10929, which directs that within one year from the effectivity of the Act, the DICT shall develop a comprehensive plan for the timely and effective implementation and propagation of the program,” the COA said.

It recommended to the DICT to require its PMO to develop a project sustainability plan and operational and maintenance plan to accelerate the operationalization of free WiFi sites and prevent the further deactivation of sites.

The COA said the DICT must also instruct its Procurement Contract Management Division and PMO to regularly monitor the existing contracts with service providers and consider the execution of new or supplemental contracts or renew existing contracts to sustain the maintenance of internet services.

In a reply letter dated June 7, the DICT said all its concerned units were instructed to submit their respective annual work and financial plan, and the corresponding performance management framework in connection with the implementation of the program.

“A number of strategies to attain a bigger number of free WiFi sites is in place, and procurement of services has already commenced,” the DICT added.