New Community Network Connects Don Victoriano Chiongbian, Empowers Locals & Businesses

SAID and a local ISP powered by unconnected.org switched on a community network at Don Victoriano Chiongbian, Misamis Occidental, Mindanao, Philippines. The access points were installed atop a building, providing coverage to the town's elementary school as well as its public market.

The neighboring community to the school will also be offered internet services to maximize the available connectivity. Regularly, various barangays bring in produce to a central location nearby the municipal hall situated a short distance away, which the local ISP committed to connect as well.

With a multiplier effect, the newly established connectivity is also envisaged to address a requisite in putting up other services in the unbanked municipality, such as an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). "Our constituents will no longer need to travel almost an hour away from our municipality just to withdraw cash, only to spend it there," said Mayor Bertoldo J. Murallon Jr.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) joined the activation of the Free WiFi site, committing to lead the transformation of the business hub where it is located into a literacy center offering training for students and interested individuals alike covering digital marketing, online safety, and other relevant topics.

With the kind of terrain and geography - mountainous, lacking commercial telecommunications services and with unstable electricity - satellite internet remains one of the quickest ways for local ISPs to deploy connectivity. Its reliability and portability allow for a convenient solution to address the digital divide in these areas, providing opportunities for local trade to flourish and for students to complement classroom learning with online resources.