PH celebrates 32 years of internet connectivity
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Sunday vowed to further expand free internet access across the Philippines as it marked the 32nd year of its first connection to the internet on March 29, 1994.
“Under the leadership of the DICT, efforts continue to expand free internet access to more Filipinos, from cities to remote mountains and islands,” the department said in a statement over the weekend.
The DICT itself was officially established only in 2016, but its predecessor agencies and their personnel at the Department of Transportation and Communications, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Commission on Information and Communications Technology were deeply involved with the private sector in developing the country’s internet infrastructure.
Internet connectivity began in the Philippines in the 1980s with the establishment of bulletin board systems by local computer geeks and some private firms, like the Philippine Long Distance and Telephone (PLDT), that foresaw the importance and profit potential of the technology.
By the 1990s, the government surmounted its initial resistance to the special project of computer geeks, which was already gaining widespread use by the world’s top corporations, including multinational companies based in the Philippines.
On March 29, 1994, local computer geek Benjie Tan established the Philippines’ first connection to the internet at a PLDT facility in Makati City, facilitated by the Philippine Network Foundation, a noncommercial academic and research network established by the DOST and major universities.
No looking back
By June of the same year, the country’s first commercial Internet Service Provider—Mosaic Communications—became operational. Filipinos have not looked back since.
In 2025, Filipinos spent an average of 8 hours and 52 minutes on the internet every day, surpassing the global average of 6 hours and 38 minutes, according to the Digital 2025 report by Meltwater and We Are Social.
The Philippines boasts an estimated internet penetration rate of 89.34 percent in 2024, with users spending the highest average daily time on the internet in the Asia-Pacific region and spurring a demand for higher-quality service from providers.
The DICT said the agency reaffirms its mission “where no Filipino is left offline” and would further expand free internet access for all Filipinos through its initiatives, such as the Free Wi-Fi for All program, National Broadband Program, Government Network and the Common Tower program.
Along with allowing more Filipinos to be connected to the internet, the DICT said these initiatives paved the way for more opportunities in education and livelihood, while public services are becoming faster and more accessible.
