PLDT’s wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. is providing free, fiber-powered, and reliable Smart WiFi in more than 100 barangay halls, airports, seaports, bus stations, and train stations in Metro Manila and 33 other provinces, as the country ramps up its pandemic response amid the rise of cases due to the Omicron variant.
“By providing access to fast and reliable Smart WiFi connectivity to our frontliners in these barangay halls as well as those using these transportation hubs for logistics, we are enabling more Filipinos to stay connected amid the pandemic,” said Jane J. Basas, SVP and head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart.
Free Smart WiFi is available in select barangay halls in Mandaluyong, Pasig, Marikina, San Juan, Quezon City, Las Pinas, and Pateros in Metro Manila, Antipolo City in Rizal, the cities of Alaminos and Lingayen in Pangasinan, Pulilan in Bulacan, Cabuyao City in Laguna, General Santos City in South Cotabato and Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental.
The service is also available 24/7 in airports across the country, including the four terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Clark International Airport, Davao International Airport, Iloilo International Airport, Kalibo International Airport, Laoag International Airport, Zamboanga International Airport, Panglao International Airport and Caticlan (Boracay) Airport; at LRT-1 and MRT-3 stations; and at seaports in Batangas, Mindoro Oriental, Sorsogon, Masbate, and Palawan in Luzon; Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Aklan, Cebu, Iloilo, Leyte and Bohol in the Visayas; and Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte, Surigao del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Davao del Sur and Misamis Oriental in Mindanao.
Free, carrier-grade Smart WiFi has also been deployed in bus stations in Quezon City, Caloocan, Pasay City, Muntinlupa City, and Taguig City in Metro Manila; in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Benguet, Aurora, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, Camarines Sur, Albay and Palawan in Luzon; Negros Occidental, Cebu, Bohol and Leyte in the Visayas; and Zamboanga del Norte in Mindanao.
Recently, Smart also provided free, unlimited Smart WiFi in close to 70 hospitals across Metro Manila and 22 provinces across the country.
PLDT and Smart have also worked closely with the government in their COVID-19 response by rolling out fiber-powered WiFi connectivity to government-run quarantine, swabbing, isolation sites, vaccination sites, and other COVID-19 facilities nationwide, including isolation sites set-up by the Office of the Vice President in Malabon City as part of its Swab Cab initiative, in the Quezon City Quarantine Center, in Taguig City’s COVID-19 facilities including Taguig Pateros Hospital, Lakeshore Tent, PWD Center, City Hall of Justice, Katwiran Building and TUP Campus, and Pasig City’s Quarantine facility at Rizal National High School and Pasig City General Hospital. PLDT also rolled out carrier-grade WiFi connectivity in quarantine sites of the Philippine Army, Philippine National Police, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, in the mega quarantine and swabbing sites of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority and the Department of Public Works and Highways, and in vaccination sites in Mandaluyong, Marikina, and Pateros.