Free Government Wi-Fi to benefit thousands of Guyanese

The Guyana Government, through the Prime Minister’s Office, has begun the installation process
of 1000 free internet access hubs across five regions.
The project dubbed ‘The 1000 Hubs Project’, which is a collaborative effort between the
Industry and Innovation Unit at OPM and the National Data Management Authority (NDMA),
will result in thousands of persons benefitting from free Wi-Fi. The Prime Minister’s Office said
that the hubs will be outfitted with the 1000 internet boxes (LTE/WiFi CPE) presented to the
Guyana Government by Chinese multinational technology corporation, Huawei, in November
last year.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips during that presentation, had said that the donation will assist his
Government in its aim to bridge the digital divide in Guyana. He disclosed that the LTE boxes
are capable of transferring 4G networks outdoors at over 300 metres and just below 100 metres
indoors to more than 100 users at a time.

Meanwhile, Head of the Industry and Innovation Unit, Mr. Shahrukh Hussain, noted that
Pomeroon-Supenaam (Region Two), Essequibo Islands-West Demerara (Region Three),
Demerara – Mahaica (Region Four), Mahaica-Berbice (Region Five) and East Berbice –
Corentyne (Region Six) were selected because of the proximity of the LTE towers on the coast.
He revealed that residents of Region Six were the first to benefit from the initiative, through the
installation of the Wi-Fi devices at the Bush Lot Secondary School and four Neighbourhood
Democratic Council (NDC) buildings (Canefield/Enterprise NDC, Good Hope/No. 51 NDC, Port
Mourant/Johns NDC and the Adelphi NDC).  He said that other public buildings in the region
assigned for free internet access include Manchester Training College, Kilcoy/Hampshire NDC
and the Williamsburg Health Centre.
Hussain appealed to community members to make full use of the free Wi-Fi spaces. He said the
initiative takes the total free government internet access points in Region Six to approximately
66. The Head of the Industry and Innovation Unit stressed that work in Region Two is scheduled
to commence in March with the installation of 18 hubs to add to the existing 32 internet access
locations there.  Hussain also noted that the entire project should be completed before the end of
the year.
He reiterated that the hubs are geared to complement the current installation of ICT hubs in
approximately 200 communities through the ICT Access and eServices for Hinterland, Poor and
Remote Communities Project, also under the Prime Minister’s direct supervision. The Guyana
Government has been promoting ICT development.  The Prime Minister’s office stated that at
last month’s budget, it was announced that $1.3B will be allocated to support the rapid
development of the ICT sector this year.