Darliston Gets Free Public Wi-Fi

Darliston in Westmoreland is the latest community to benefit from free public Internet service under the Universal Service Fund (USF) Community Wi-Fi Programme.

The secured hotspot was officially launched during a ceremony held at the Darliston Transportation Centre on Wednesday (August 10).

The USF’s Community Wi-Fi Programme is designed to provide Internet access to 189 underserved and unserved areas across Jamaica. More than 100 community hotspots have been launched so far.

Principal of St. John’s Primary and Infant School in Darliston, Kareen Malcolm, expressed gratitude to the USF for installing the Wi-Fi hotspot and pledged that the community will take care of the facility.

“This Internet [service] will be beneficial to the young and the old. Students will be better able to access online lessons, and information will be more readily available to the community,” she noted.

“We extend a big thank you to the Universal Service Fund for affording this community with the much-needed commodity, free of charge. The community of Darliston receives this service gratefully and will certainly use it in a positive and productive way,” Ms. Malcolm pledged.

Chief Executive Officer of the USF, Daniel Dawes, in his remarks, informed that the hotspot in Darliston is the third installed in Westmoreland Eastern.

The other communities in the constituency that have received the service are Bethel Town and Whitehouse.

USF will be launching a hotspot in Whithorn in the parish on Thursday (August 11).

Director of Projects at the USF, Kwan Wilson, in giving an overview of ongoing projects, said that the entity continues to connect schools, libraries and other public buildings.

He noted that the entity provides funding through E-Learning Jamaica for the provision of tablets for students and teachers.

“We also fund… the development of e-learning labs, which are placed in high schools across Jamaica,” he added.

Mr. Wilson said that under the Connect Jamaica Programme, the USF continues to bridge the information gap by providing high-speed Internet to the island’s town centres.

He informed that, so far, some 19 town centres have benefited from this service.