P.R. Laws tit. 27, § 269e-3
The Board is hereby authorized and directed to create Internet Access Centers, together with the pertinent government agencies, the municipalities of Puerto Rico, and private, educational, and community-based entities. Internet Access Centers are to be established at the municipalities that have none, in those areas that offer better access to citizens. The Board shall have the obligation to conduct the design and initial implementation of these Internet Access Centers, seeking that such Centers have the necessary infrastructure and equipment for compliance with all the provisions of this chapter. The Board shall provide a maximum initial subsidy for the acquisition of information and communication technologies and furnishings, subject to the Board’s budget limitations and in staggered stages, through the establishment of pilot centers, for the next three (3) years after the approval of this act. Municipalities shall have the obligation to provide the premises, the personnel, the maintenance of physical facilities, infrastructure, and equipment, and the payment of utility bills, among others.
In concrete terms, the Board shall provide all the furnishings, computers, security equipment, programming, and minor remodeling of spaces. Municipalities shall provide the spaces, the utilities, telephone lines, recurring costs, and the personnel to administer the Center. The transfer from the Board to the municipalities shall be conducted when the Centers are inaugurated.
In turn, the Board shall have the obligation to establish Internet access through the use of the technology known as WiFi at town squares in each municipality, in order for the signal’s density to guarantee that citizens shall have optimal and adequate access to ensure quality digital contents. The establishment of wireless access at town squares shall be subject to the Board’s budget limitations and other factors, such as, for instance, the geography of the location, the electric power service, among others, and the same staggered schedule of implementation of the Centers.
History —Sept. 12, 1996, No. 213, added as § III-7C on July 28, 2010, No. 101, § 3.