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Friday, 6 March 2015 01:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
ICTA Program Manager Gavshkar Subramanium, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ajith P. Perera, ICTA CEO Muhunthan Canagey, ICTA Chairperson Chitranganie Mubarak and Ministry of Telecommunication and IT former Secretary Gotabhaya Jayaratne – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara
By Waruni Paranagamage The ICT Agency (ICTA) next week will roll out the ‘Free Wi-Fi’ bonanza for people as promised under the 100-day program of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Telecommunication, Ajith P. Perera, told the media this week that initially 250 specific locations across the country would be provided with ‘Free Wi-Fi’ within the next two weeks. He said the program was being spearheaded by the ICTA along with the support of all telecommunication operators in Sri Lanka. “The first 250 locations will be launched before 31 March 2015, while the balance 750 locations will be completed within 60 to 90 days,’’ Deputy Minister added. The objective of this program is to allow Sri Lankan citizens to be able to have access to the internet for a variety of purposes and enable them to engage in the policymaking of the Government and contribute towards good governance. The Deputy Minister said that providing free Wi-Fi facilities to more than 1000 locations in the country during the next 30 to 90 days was more than a mere fulfilment of an election pledge. He emphasised that in the current rapidly-changing world, internet facilities were no more a luxury but merely a utility service like water, electricity and gas. He further stated that the current Government had changed its original plan and decided to provide speedier Wi-Fi facilities to a larger number of locations. Speaking as someone who belonged to the group of students who received school level computer education for the first time in 1983, the Deputy Minister said that he had gotten that opportunity as a result of action taken by current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the then Education Minister, which included the establishment of computer facilities and the training of youth at the village level. “We have spoken with the Telecommunication Regulatory Communication of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) for all technological facilities. We must do a lot more to make the internet truly become the people›s consumer right,” the Deputy Minister explained. The initial limits hall will be 100 MB per citizen per month and can be accessed at a speed of 512 Kbps. Citizens will be provided with a username and password to give them access to the facility after registering with their NIC numbers. The Deputy Minister said that the Government expected revolutionary changes in society like the creation of new markets including significant changes in the job market and a shift in the behaviour of the individuals in the country after gaining free access to the internet facility. He also mentioned that Foreign Affairs and Telecommunication Minister Mangala Samaraweera proposed that all telecommunication companies must be part of this ambitious journey and that the country must take pride in its adoption of the digital age. Perera further asserted that the supply of free Wi-Fi facilities was just the beginning of the Government›s digital initiative. He noted that Sri Lanka would be one the first countries in South Asia to take such initiatives and be able to deploy it in such a short time. ICTA Chairperson Chithranganie Mubarak said that the social unity among the public and private sector had enabled the ICTA to fulfill one its key objectives: ICT penetration in the country. “I am amazed as to how such a large-scale implementation could be achieved in such a short time. This clearly shows that the true benefit of this partnership to deliver such services was unimaginable before,” Mubarak added. ICTA Managing Director/CEO Muhunthan Canagey said that it was an ambitious dream for ICTA to spearhead such a telecommunication rollout within a period of 60 to 90 days. He noted that the telecommunication operators, along with the team at the ICTA and TRC, were able to drive such an ambitious and dynamic initiative. Canagey revealed that they were considering introducing different packages of data usage for citizens of different income levels. He also mentioned that they would block access to some websites after analysing the negative and positive effects they had on society. There were many technical and interoperability details that needed to be finalised between all telecommunication operators. However, the spirit of all parties was positive which enabled the ICTA to deliver more than what was promised by the Government in the run-up to the last election. Canagey said that there were many factors other than those dealing with technical and policy factors that needed to be considered, such as the selection of locations which the public would find convenient to use. The consensus reached by the teams was that all state universities, limited professional education institutions, all railway stations, central bus stands, district secretariats, the Sri Lanka Law College, main court complexes, A grade base hospitals, public parks, public libraries, museums and limited Government offices and district secretariats would provide free Wi-Fi facilities. The distribution of ‹free Wi-Fi› locations shall be proportionately distributed across all districts.
