DAVAO City – Telco giant Smart Telecommunication yesterday provided millions of Filipinos with smart phones a free data service for the live streaming of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s inauguration.
This also marked the giant network’s re-launching of the Freenet (formerly SafeZone) as a free data platform of Voyager Innovations, a subsidiary of Smart, where Filipinos can access the live streaming for free through a live feed from Cignal TV inside the Rizal Hall in Malacañan Palace.
Duterte, the 16th President of the country and first from Mindanao, was sworn in yesterday at 12 noon.
In a press statement released Wednesday night, Voyager Innovations president and chief-executive-officer said “we see a future with no digital divide, with each and every Filipino able to take part in the emerging digital economy. Giving them free livestream access to the next President’s inauguration is a step in our pursuit toward digitally enabling our citizens from today and beyond, through game-changing digital initiatives such as the newly rebranded freenet.”
Mobile phone users will have to download the freenet mobile app from Google Play Store or SafeZone app from the Apple App Store enabling millions of Filipinos to watch the new Presidents inauguration.
Incoming Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) secretary Martin Andanar said that the partnership is a first step in building a “digitally-enabled government that listens to the pulse of the people, no matter what platform they are on.”
“We’ve seen the power of social media during the last elections, so President-elect Duterte and his incoming administration are very keen in harnessing the same power and enabling each and every Filipino to take part of the conversation,” he said.
Facebook on the other hand also streamed Duterte’s inauguration via Facebook Live, which was the first in Asia if not in the world.
Incoming Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Facebook was given the privilege to do a full coverage from 10 AM to 3 PM. for the benefit of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and those who have no television and radio, but have mobile phones. mindanews
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