Negril, Ochi, Port Royal among five chosen for free Wi-Fi

The resort towns of Negril and Ocho Rios in Westmoreland and St Ann, respectively; the community of Port Royal; the Portmore Resilience Park; and Gordon House and its surroundings, will be next to offer free public Wi-Fi access with the support of the Universal Service Fund (USF).

Charlton McFarlane, chief executive officer of the USF, made the revelation to members of the Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights in St Andrew recently. He was the guest speaker at the club’s general meeting, held at CRU Bar and Kitchen on Lady Musgrave Road in St Andrew.

“There are 63 communities islandwide being assessed for implementation,” McFarlane said, pointing to the USF’s Community Wi-Fi programme under which some 189 communities across the country have already benefited. “In addition to that, there will be five public Wi-Fi installations. Those five locations, as proposed, will be Negril, Port Royal, the Portmore Resilience Park and [the] parliament building,” he confirmed.

Public spaces and communities to offer public Wi-Fi are selected based on a detailed set of selection criteria, McFarlane outlined, including population density, residents’ access to the Internet and their ability to afford the service; safety of common facilities to house the equipment, as well as the availability of electricity.

McFarlane made it clear that the service is not simply provided without safeguards, as residents are educate on how to safely use the Internet and protect the equipment.

“We promote safe Internet usage for all our hotspot areas. We partner with the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) and the SDC (Social Development Commission) to promote safe Internet use and protection of the infrastructure,” he explained.

The provision of free public Wi-Fi and community access are only two of several projects across the country funded by the USF to prepare Jamaica for digital transformation. More than $1 billion is invested by the Fund annually through the provision of ICT-related tertiary scholarships and mobile devices to primary- and high-school students, among various other projects, to promote digital adaptation. An additional $1.3 billion has also been spent on building out infrastructure along major thoroughfares to facilitate the carriage of broadband Internet across the country.

“To date, the cumulative expense exceeds over $10 billion (on various projects),” McFarlane revealed. “And I believe this underscores our unwavering dedication to digital transformation.”