Nineteen municipalities and communities in Cyprus have been selected in the first round of free Wi-Fi internet access procedures based on the European WiFi for Europe or WiFi4EU program, to receive € 15.000 in funding.
Across the EU 2.800 municipalities and communities, of which 105 are municipalities and communities in Cyprus, have applied for the establishment of free wireless internet access networks in areas of Local Government.
Out of the 105 applications submitted, 19 were selected at this stage of the program and these are the following municipalities and communities in alphabetical order: Ayia Napa, Agios Dometios, Agios Theodoros Soleas, Anagia, Aska, Dora, Kathika, Kakopetria, Kouka, Latsia , Limassol, Liopetri, Oiko, Ora, Paralimni, Pentakomo, Pissouri, Temvria and Tseri.
Selected municipalities and communities will now be able to take advantage of this € 15.000 sponsorship to install Wi-Fi hotspots in public places, such as town halls, town or village centers, libraries, museums, parks and other public places. of interest.
Access to all wireless internet access points will be free, and will take at least three years. Of course, there should be no other free network in the same space.
Also, through these connections, citizens should have access to digital public services such as e-government, e-health, e-tourism and specialized similar services that each local authority plans to offer. Also, system installations can only be done through EU-certified. companies.
As part of the WiFi for Europe (WiFi4EU) program, three more invitations are expected, which can be submitted by municipalities and communities that have not received sponsorship at this stage, as well as local authorities that have not yet applied for the sponsorship. It should be noted that Cyprus has submitted as beneficiaries to claim the sponsorship of all municipalities and communities in Cyprus.
The second call is expected to begin in the near future.