The National Broadband Initiative project, which aims to have every household and community connected to the Internet by 2025, has allocated over $1 billion.

According to Minister of Technology, Daryl Vaz, during his contribution to the Sectoral Debates in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, the allocation will see one hundred and two (102) schools from the parishes of St. Ann, St. Mary, St James, Portland, Clarendon, and St. Catherine.

This new funding comes as the initiative during the 2022/2023 fiscal year, connected approximately 180 institutions across eight parishes.

Of the 180 institutions, Minister Vaz stated that his team connected schools with high bandwidth at 118 public educational institutions in Kingston & St. Andrew, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Elizabeth, Trelawny, Westmoreland, and Hanover.

The remaining 62 institutions with connectivity include 13 municipal corporations, parish courts, and 51 ministries, departments, and agencies.

The Technology Minister explained that with the new allocation, community WiFi sites are to be added to each constituency at a cost of $206 million through the Universal Service Fund, USF.

Mr. Vaz also noted that increased funding is also being considered for Members of Parliament to establish more community WiFi hotspots in their constituencies this year, and he will provide more details.