The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission reached an agreement on the WiFi4EU initiative, under which free Wi‑Fi hotspots will be installed in all European public spaces.
The initiative will contribute to the vision of having “every European village and every city with free wireless Internet around the central centres of public life by 2020,” as stated by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
“The digital single market strategy aims to build a fully connected Europe, where everyone will have access to high‑quality digital networks. The WiFi4EU initiative will improve connectivity, especially when Internet access is limited”, said Andrus Ansip. “WiFi4EU is a welcome first step, but much more must be done to achieve high‑speed interconnection across the entire EU territory – such as improving coordination at the European level of the radio spectrum and boosting investments in high‑capacity networks that Europe needs”.
The three institutional bodies have committed to allocate 120 million euros to fund equipment for public free Wi‑Fi services in 6,000 to 8,000 municipalities across all member states. Once the bureaucracy is completed, local authorities will be able to apply for funding. The grants must be used for the purchase and installation of state‑of‑the‑art equipment, i.e., local wireless access points. Public authorities will cover the execution costs of the projects at the local level.
WiFI4EU was first proposed in September 2016, as the European Union seeks to overhaul the rules of telecommunications. The Digital Single Market strategy is well advanced in the European Union. On 15 June 2017, all travellers in the European Union will stop paying roaming charges. Early next year, Europeans will also be able to travel with films, music, video games and e-books from their home subscriptions, once the 700 MHz band is released for the development of 5G and new electronic services.
