GLOBE Telecom Inc. is halfway through its program of providing free wireless Internet services in public places, a service launched in 2015 to address the demand for digital connectivity in areas Filipinos frequent.
Albert de Larrazabal, who sits as chief commercial officer at Globe, said the company is planning to set up 1,000 free Wi-Fi spots all over the country by yearend.
Already, Globe has powered almost 1,000 public areas in the Philippines—500 from last year, and 478 to date—including train stations, airports, bus terminals, malls and coffee shops. Dubbed as GoWiFi, the service currently serves three million customers per month with speeds peaking at 100 megabits per second.
“This year, the Globe GoWiFi rollout project will have two separate phases. The first phase has a target of 478 total sites, which we have surpassed already. Nationwide and by year-end, we expect to have a total of 1,000 sites including but not limited to areas, such as then National Capital Region namely in Quezon, Manila and the local government units, Davao, Cebu, Bulacan, Cavite, Cagayan Valley, Cagayan de Oro, Nueva Vizcaya, Dumaguete, Zamboanga and now available in Boracay,” de Larrazabal said.
As a national Wi-Fi network, the service is open to any customer with a Wi-Fi enabled device. They just need to register their mobile number to enjoy the free premium 30-minute access. The service is telco agnostic.
If customers would want to extend their connectivity, they can easily purchase GoWiFi’s mobile data offers starting at P20 with up to 500 megabytes (MB) volume allocation and an additional 250 MB YouTube Accelerator valid per day.
“Here in Globe, we believe in the power of Internet access to support the nation’s state of the Internet and, therefore, helping businesses and families wherever they go,” he said. “Expect an extensive reach of our free access to Wi-Fi to more public places by the end of this year.”