Davao City Council To Approve Citywide WiFi Coverage

THE Davao City Council approved on first reading a proposal of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to make the entire Davao City and some immediate localities as wireless internet fidelity (Wifi) zone.

Councilor Pilar Braga, chair of the City Council committee on energy, transportation and communication, said the proposed Wireless Wide Area Network for Davao City aims to establish a wireless network to cover the whole city by providing voice, data, and video connectivity.

In Tuesday’s regular session of the City Council, Braga said one of the core benefits of the proposal is to link all emergency and disaster response units of Davao City in order to improve emergency responses during calamities.

Should the technology materialize, data from the Central 911, all police stations, fire stations, and barangays, among others can be easily accessed for a better emergency response.

On top of this, Braga said possible calamities like floods, heavy rains, among others can be easily forecasted and disseminated to avoid damages.

“There is really a merit to this proposed system, and we will look into it very clearly,” Braga said.

Braga is still clueless on the financial aspect of the proposed project like how much the government would pour in and the city’s counterpart.

The four components of the system include wireless communications backbone, public safety infrastructure, and wireless wide area data network.

The following are the four components along with their technical features: Wireless Communications Backbone — internet protocol (IP) radios at 5GHz located at selected highly elevated areas, digital two-way repeaters for voice and data applications, and IP radios set as far as 60 kilometers apart providing bandwidth around 100mbps; Public Safety Infrastructure — automatic vehicle locators, video surveillance, and alarms monitoring and control; Public Safety Infrastructure (possible disasters and natural hazards) — inclement weather, early warning, information display; Wireless Wide Area Data Network — voice on internet phone (VOIP), video conferencing, and wide area network data access.

The same proposed system will be scheduled for public hearings starting next week.

Source:
Via [Sunstar Davao]