SP oks MOA with INNOVE Com for internet access to brgys, resettlement sites

THROUGH an ordinance, the 19th City Council headed by Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin V. Uy during its regular session presided over by Councilor Edna M. Dahino, authorized City Mayor Oscar Moreno to enter into and sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the INNOVE Communications, Incorporated.

This covers the parties’ collaboration in providing internet access to residents of barangays and resettlement sites of the city who are mutually selected by the parties.

The Gavel learned that the INNOVE will install the needed internet equipment to provide the chosen areas access to the internet without cost to the city.

Mayor Moreno informed the legislative body that this is a crucial collaboration since it addresses the lack of internet connection among those residing in the barangays, particularly, the beneficiaries of housing programs of the government.

With the ongoing pandemic, the need for online connectivity is now an urgent demand among students and teachers, professionals and workers, as well as those who are engaged in business and other forms of livelihood, said Mayor Moreno.

Under the agreement, INNOVE shall ensure the consistent availability and quality of the Wi-Fi service in the agreed barangays and relocation sites, except for cases identified in the MOA and other similar incidents that are beyond the control of INNOVE.

The INNOVE shall have sole administration over the operation and features of the Wi-Fi services, which may be expanded or modified by INNOVE as it sees fit and necessary in order to deliver or improve the Wi-Fi services under the MOA.

For its part, the city shall provide the appropriate space for the poles within the agreed Wi-Fi sites for the installation of the necessary Wi-Fi equipment, subject to the Wi-Fi design provided by INNOVE.

In case of site rehabilitation, improvement or similar activities initiated by the city which will require the transfer or relocation of the pole, the city agrees to shoulder the cost of the said transfer, among others.

The ordinance was sponsored by the committees on public utilities and on laws and rules chaired by Councilors Teodulfo Lao Jr. and Ian Mark Q. Nacaya, respectively.