MANILA, Philippines – JAC Liner became the first bus line in the country to offer free Wi-Fi access on the road. Some 90 percent of their buses plying routes to Lucena and Mauban in Quezon, Biñan and Sta. Rosa in Laguna, as well as Marinduque, have free Wi-Fi Internet for passengers.

Passengers with Wi-Fi capable gadgets such as laptops, mobile phones and other wireless devices can now log on to the internet during long bus rides. From Manila, bus rides going to Pangasinan take between four to five hours.

JAC Liner’s sister company Solid North Bus Express, with daily trips to San Carlos and Dagupan City in Pangasinan, has also availed of the same service recently. All of Solid North’s buses, both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned, are now Wi-Fi enabled.

Since offering the free Wi-Fi service in their buses, JAC Liner and Solid North Bus Express saw an increase in the number of passengers.

Passengers who use the Wi-Fi service are usually students and professionals who want to check their emails and access other social networking sites during long trips. Passengers can use this free Wi-Fi access instead of their cellular phone access to save on their phone expenses, according to JAC Liner spokesperson Cathy Lagdaan,

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) SME Nation, the group that focuses on small and medium enterprises, equipped the buses with PLDT WeRoam, a wireless internet solution.

The service offers speeds of up to 3.6Mbps with unlimited nationwide wireless access coverage. JAC Liner targets to equip all their buses with the Wi-Fi service soon.

“Passengers can now be more productive and will be able to entertain themselves even during long bus trips,” remarked PLDT SME Nation Vice President Kat Luna-Abelarde.

“PLDT SME Nation has always partnered with entrepreneurs who take full advantage of technology to help empower their businesses,” she pointed out. “JAC Liner initiated the move to integrate technology in their business to serve their customers better.”

“We will install new buses with Wi-Fi before they are launched,” Lagdaan concluded. “Being the first and only bus line to offer Wi-Fi in bus trips is really an advantage. The JAC Liner name has become more reliable and preferred bus line because of this value added service.”