IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Up to 8,000 communities stand to benefit from new free wireless internet to be installed in public spaces

If you’re in the Wi-Fi network installation business in Europe, you might be about to get extremely busy. The head of the politico-economic union said its member states will be investing dramatically in Wi-Fi connectivity. The reason: to “empower” its subjects.

“Every European village and every city” will be equipped with a total of an equivalent of 134 million dollars-worth of non-payment, free wireless Internet by 2020.” The installs will occur around the “main centers of public life,” Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Union’s executive body, said in a state of the union address a few days ago.

A Truro-based grants specialist has welcomed a new EU fund providing free Wi-Fi to over 6,000 communities.

The new €120 million (£108 million) European Commission programme, which opens later this year, will help provide free public Wi-Fi networks across Europe.

The European Parliament has on Tuesday approved a resolution that creates a financial scheme for local wireless access points in the EU, free of charge and without discriminatory conditions.

The budget of the WiFi4EU scheme is EUR 120 million between 2017-2019. It will support the installation of state-of-the-art Wi-Fi equipment in the centres of community life, such as parks, squares, public building, libraries, health centres, and museums.

Small towns are reaping the benefits of having free internet access, whilst large metropolitan cities appear to be lagging behind.

Stellenbosch residents will soon be able to access wireless internet in the city after the service went live on Friday. Though still in a trial phase, free Wi-Fi is currently available at the town centre and will run for two to three weeks before extending the network to the greater Stellenbosch area.

Anudith Nakornthap, Minister of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry (ICT) said on Friday that the ministry was allocated a new budget of 27.15 million U.S. dollars to expand the free wifi coverage which is currently available at 200,000 spots nationwide.

The service is partly to facilitate first grade students who have been given free tablet computers for education under the government’s “Smart Thailand” policy, he said.

Filipinos, especially those in metropolitan areas, may fully enjoy 24/7 free Wi-Fi access nationwide this December.

The Department of Science and Technology’s Free Wi-Fi Internet Access in Public Places project will be fully implemented within this year.

In yesterday’s House Committee on Appropriations deliberation on the proposed P17.9-billion budget of the Department of Science and Technology for 2016, Undersecretary Louis Casambre of the Information and Communications Technology Office said the project, that was launched last July, is now 25 percent complete, covering 7,118 sites in 967 municipalities and 43 cities.

Praise has been given to work carried out to extend access to public WiFi across Sunderland and the early success of a new dedicated city-wide app.

Sunderland City Council bosses stressed they have been working “very hard” and made some “great progress” in terms of providing online network connections over the last five years.

The Volta regional capital, Ho, and some principal areas in the region are witnessing the installation of community WIFI services by Bluetown Company Limited, a hi-tech telecos entity to foster digitization and internet connectivity in rural Ghana.

Mr. Brian Tsikpor, Director, Corporate Affairs, Bluetown briefing the Ghana News Agency in their entry into the Volta space said the Company was poised to deploy affordable and cheaper internet connectivity beyond the reach of the major telcos.

A Wi-Fi programme is being rolled out at secondary schools with Hinterland and remote areas slated to benefit by the end of the first quarter of 2016.

eGovernment Advisor, Floyd Levi said the unit has also been mandated to provide internet access to all tertiary educational institutes.

He said a pilot has already been implemented at President’s College to determine the needs and requirements of other schools.

Proof-of-concept trial showcases how wireless internet standard has been deployed to provide residents, tourists and businesses in Irish capital with convenient access to municipal services

The City of Dublin has announced a successful proof-of-concept trial of the OpenRoaming standard from the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA).

TIP OpenWifi is being trialled by Dublin City Council to expand the free-to-use Wi-Fi network in the city centre and beyond as part of the WiFi4EU programme.

A partnership between Dublin City Council and Virgin Media Business to provide free Wi-Fi in the city centre is trialling a new open-source network architecture that enables multi-vendor interoperability.

The schools run by the Greater Chennai Corporation will now have Wi-Fi facilities under the Smart City Project.

According to a Corporation official, providing Wi-Fi connections to the civic body-run schools is a part of upgrading digital infrastructure at the campuses under the City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS) initiative.

“Even though the physical infrastructure will be upgraded only at 28 select schools, Wi-Fi and other digital infrastructure will be provided to all the schools,” the official said.

Passengers travelling from Naharlagun Railway Station in Arunachal Pradesh will now be able to use free WiFi service with the launch of the high-speed WiFi internet service.

Inaugurating the service, Arunachal Pradesh deputy chief minister Chowna Mein said that the service is another step towards digital connectivity and contribute towards Digital India initiative.

AP govt launches wi-fi service covering Vizag

Andhra Pradesh Government today launched a high-speed wi-fi service here on a pilot basis, which is seen as a crucial prelude to attain the 'Smart City' status.

"Wifi service would be available throughout the city and educational institutions with a speed ranging from 2 MBPS to 20 MBPS," HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao said while launching the project from Sunrise Start-Up village at Madhuravada IT SEZ.

Data consumption in a city ranges from zero to 15GB per day depending on the location of the WiFi hotspot, population, service quality, service accessibility.

Thirty nine of the 100 cities selected under the Smart Cities Mission currently offer free WiFi services under the Smart City projects, minister of state for communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday in a written response.

As per reports, public Wi-Fi services at 10 locations in East Siang district were launched by Pasighat East MLA Kaling Moyong under the City Innovation Exchange of the Smart City Mission by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Moyong further hopes that this step will prove beneficial for the student community, business community and researchers.

In the budget of 2018, the government has come from many passengers of railway passengers. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said in the Lok Sabha that soon all trains will be given Wi-Fi and CCTV services. With this, the Internet will be provided in all the railway stations across the country.

Five lakh WiFi spots will be made in rural areas along with WiFi in the railway station. Taking a meaningful step towards digital India campaign The government has started to build cities from villages in a formula. Wi-Fi facility in rural and remote areas will be offered for the spread of e-governance among the local population under the digitization of rural India.