Hundreds of people flocked to the public plaza here Thursday following the launching of the free internet access provided by the city government.

Mayor Jose Paolo Evangelista said the initiative aims to help the public access essential information, specifically students and those in the working sector.

“This will also serve as a relief to an individual who has limited resources to gain information and trends depending on their interest”, he said.

The free internet service has four Wi-Fi routers located in strategic corners of the city plaza. Each router can serve 800 simultaneous connections at a time.

“Each smartphone device has limited access of one hour in a day to cater to the large volume of users who are expected to flock during the free time”, the mayor said, adding that the internet service can be accessed 24 hours daily.

Evangelista said he has assigned “watchers” to remind the public of the continuous implementation of minimum health protocols in the vicinity.

The mayor said the local government is also looking at extending the free internet service to some public schools in the city. (PNA)