Philippine Congress to Set Up ‘Wireless VoIP Hotspot’

The Philippine House of Representatives has allotted P100 million (US$1.8 million) to fund a modernization program that will provide, among others, wireless Internet connectivity for the country’s lawmakers.

House Speaker Jose De Venecia said in a speech during Monday’s opening of the 1st VoIP international conference that an ICT task force was created to oversee efforts to “transform the House of Representatives into a wireless VoIP hotspot.”

VoIP (or voice over IP) allows voice calls routed over the Internet and is touted to bring about savings in telephony costs.

George Kintanar, consultant to the Lower House Committee on ICT, said in an interview that the modernization budget will be taken from P190 million savings incurred by Congress.

“Computerization projects will be evaluated according to three main components: infrastructure, content and training,” Kintanar said.

The committee will start bidding out projects to prospective suppliers within this year, he added.

-Lawrence D. Casiraya, Computerworld Philippines

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