Free public Wi-Fi in Angeles City launched

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=13&rid=803826
• Monday, September 14, 2015

By Rhea Katherine Mendoza [(PNA), CTB/ZST/RKM/PS]

ANGELES CITY, Pampanga, Sept. 14 (PNA) --A free public Wi-Fi service is now set in several key areas in the city.

The service, dubbed Angeles City ConnectED, was formally launched on Monday by Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan and Converge ICT Solutions CEO Dennis Anthony Uy at the Angeles City Hall.

“Accelerating a city’s communication capabilities is key to boosting its economy - and with our free Wi-Fi service, we will be able to attract more investors and businesses in the city,” Pamintuan said.

“In addition, students, families of OFWs, visitors, tourists and the ordinary folks could enjoy free internet services to check and communicate with their loved ones; do research; check-out interesting tourist destinations and events, and stay connected wherever they are.” the mayor said.

An initial 13 hotspots were installed by Converge ICT Solutions.

Those are located within a 300-meter radius of the following: Jenra Mall and Heritage Area/Museo ning Angeles in Sto. Rosario; Comclark Office, El Potro, Didis Pizza, Casino Filipino and Newstreet along Mon Tang Ave. in Balibago; and at the taxpayer’s lounge, lobby and mayor’s office at the City Hall.

Other sites being considered for future installation of hotspots include schools, specifically near Holy Angel University and Angeles University Foundation, which will allow students and other members of the academe to connect.

During the launch, Pamintuan and Uy both promised to install a hotspot at the Department of Education District Office in Pulungbulu as well.

“This project comes in with no cost to the city government,” said the city mayor, adding that the establishment of hotspots is actually part of Converge’s corporate social responsibility.

“Wi-Fi is a necessity in our world today -- and since I am from Angeles City, we decided to do this here first. A world class mayor needs world class wi-fi service in his city,” Uy said.

For the initial offering, Converge has already invested around Php10 million for the hardware, bandwidth and support infrastructure.

Uy also explained that each hotspot has a 300-meter coverage, with a shared bandwidth of 100 megabytes per second (mbps) and able to accommodate 450 simultaneous users.

To avail of the free Wi-Fi service, all users have to do is to connect their device (laptop, tablet or smartphone) to the network named “Agyu Tamu Wi-Fi”.

Once connected, a registration window will appear where the user can register by logging in their mobile number, email or Facebook account to get started.

Uy also said that the data from the registration would be used to determine which hotspots are the busiest, so that they could improve the coverage in that particular area.

Additionally, during this initial period, there is currently no data download limit per user. This limit will be determined after the trial period.

The launch of the Angeles City ConnectED Free Public Wi-Fi project prompted the mayor to share his plans on making Angeles a smarter city and safer with the establishment of a Php50 million state-of-the-art Command Center at the City Hall.

“Through the command center, we will install closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in our barangays equipped with intelligent video analytics software. This will allow us to monitor crimes as they happen, while being able to pinpoint details to aid us in identifying the criminals such as plate numbers, the suspect’s face even behind tinted windows, and so on.” Pamintuan said.

Additionally, the command center will allow the city to connect with establishments that already have CCTV cameras installed, giving the local government and the police a wider coverage in crime surveillance.

The command center will be located at the current Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) at the city hall.

The SP will move to the new legislative building also at the city hall.