DOST to use TV whitespace to bring Internet to 99% of PH by 2015

Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo predicts there will be 99% internet connectivity by 2015 if the DOST is able to harness TV whitespace. He says, “We’re looking at TV whitespace…This is very cost-effective at being able to reach out to unserved or underserved areas which don’t have the connectivity.“ Montejo adds the department also wants to improve connectivity to provide government services to rural areas. Montejo also says the government’s early warning system, Project Noah, is designed to show simulations in flood-prone areas. The project came about after Typhoon Sendong battered Mindanao in 2011. “It’s sometimes very hard to appreciate weather forecasts, what it can do. But if it’s in the form of maps, visual, they can now really appreciate what will happen…

What Project NOAH will be presenting is, say 6 hours from now, assuming there might be flood events, the area where there will be flooding, even the depth. People can now appreciate…where the flood will be.”