To bolster San Juan’s bid to be a smart city, PLDT wireless subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has inked an agreement with the local government of San Juan to power key sites in the city with fast, free and open fiber-powered Wi-Fi by deploying Google Station.
San Juan has also signed an agreement with PLDT-backed software and IT solutions provider Multisys Technologies in developing the San Juan city app, mobile kiosk and e-wallet services to make the city’s services more accessible to residents.
To date, carrier grade Google Station is already available in key areas in the city such as the City Hall of San Juan. In addition, it is also available in medical and shopping areas such as Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Virra Mall and Greenhills Shopping Center.
This Smart-powered high-speed Wi-Fi service will soon be available in the Agora Market, San Juan Medical Center, Pinaglabanan Shrine, and Polytechnic University of the Philippines-San Juan campus, to name a few.
“We are happy to work with the San Juan City government in realizing their smart city vision. We look forward to helping Mayor Francis Zamora further enhance his government’s ability to respond even more efficiently to the needs of his constituents and elevate San Juan to be at par with other modern cities in Asia and the world,” said PLDT chair Manuel V. Pangilinan.
"Through this memorandum of agreement with Smart and Multisys for free Wi-Fi in key areas in our different barangays, for the development of our San Juan City App and for the deployment of Electronic Kiosks in all our barangay halls and our City Hall, we are now bringing our San Juaneños closer to the city government by digitalizing local government services. This is in line with our vision to make San Juan a Smart City — A Makabagong San Juan," said San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora.
Also at the signing ceremonies were PLDT Chief Revenue Officer and Smart President Alfredo S. Panlilio, PLDT-Smart Senior Vice President and Head of Enterprise Juan Victor I. Hernandez and San Juan City Vice Mayor Warren Villa.
“By working with Mayor Zamora and his government in making high-quality and reliable connectivity more accessible across San Juan, we are empowering the city’s residents, students and entrepreneurs and enabling them to access online services that are relevant to their lives and businesses,” Panlilio said.
Aside from San Juan City, Google Station is also available in other government offices such as city and provincial halls, as well as in branches of the Land Transportation Office and National Bureau of Investigation across the country.
Google Station is also available in other heavy foot-traffic areas such as airports and other transportation hubs like bus stations and seaports, hospitals, tertiary schools, and malls.
Once up, the additional San Juan venues will join the growing list of 600 Google Station sites that Smart and Google Philippines initially announced in July 2019.
The nationwide rollout of Google Station complements Smart’s ongoing network expansion and modernization program across the Philippines.
For 2019, PLDT capex is expected to reach P78.4 billion, including allocations for the expansion of PLDT’s fiber broadband service, which also supports Smart’s mobile network by providing high-capacity links for cellular base stations.
For more information on Smart WiFi, visit https://smart.com.ph/Pages/smart-wifi.
