Successful applicants will receive grants to install infrastructure offering minimum speeds of 30Mb\/s in areas that attract people who would otherwise struggle to gain Internet access for cost or technical reasons.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thesmartcityjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/free-wifi.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Funding will be allocated to countries spread across the continent and must be applied for on a project-by-project basis.<\/p>\n
During the debate, Peter Pellegrini<\/strong>, the Slovak Deputy Prime Minister for Investments and the Information Society, said: \u201cThis decision brings direct benefits to people and shows that Europe works for them.”<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe should not lose sight of the need to bring high-speed internet, including public free of charge Wi-Fi connection, to areas whose inhabitants do not have adequate connection. We must look beyond the more developed regions and ensure that we deliver results to all our citizens.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Commenting on the Council\u2019s decision to back the plans, EU Commissioner G\u00fcnther H. Oettinger<\/strong>, who leads the Digital Economy and Society strategy, added: \u201cConnectivity is a key prerequisite for Europe\u2019s digital future. It is time to make sure all Europeans, whether in the countryside or in cities, can get access to a quality internet connection. We are happy that the Member States have backed WiFi4EU so swiftly \u2013 it also shows the importance and real value of the initiative.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Once the details of the initiative have gained approval from the European Parliament and get final sign-off from Member States, communities will have two years to apply for a share of the \u20ac120 million funding. The commission estimates the first call for applications will be made during the first half of 2017.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EU member states backed a \u20ac120 million plan to provide free Wi-Fi in public spaces across Europe. The fund, which will provide high-grade connectivity to over 6,000 communities, including many in areas with under-developed telecoms infrastructure, received the backing of the EU Telecoms Council meeting on Friday. The WiFi4EU initiative was initially announced by EC\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_scj_primary_category_id":136,"_scj_featured":true,"_scj_featured_from":"","_scj_featured_until":"","_scj_featured_order":1975,"_scj_visibility_class":"current","_scj_layout_family":"standard","_scj_article_style":"","_scj_display_overrides":[],"_scj_intro_image_id":3126,"_scj_intro_alt":"Free Wi-Fi","_scj_intro_caption":"","_scj_intro_class":"","_scj_intro_float":"","_scj_full_image_id":3126,"_scj_full_alt":"Free Wi-Fi","_scj_full_caption":"Free Wi-Fi","_scj_full_class":"","_scj_full_float":"","_scj_media_type":"","_scj_media_provider":"","_scj_media_external_id":"","_scj_media_url":"","_scj_media_poster_id":0,"_scj_media_width":0,"_scj_media_height":0,"_scj_media_aspect_ratio":"","_scj_media_description":"","_scj_gallery_items":[],"_scj_related_post_ids":[],"_scj_additional_authors":[],"scj_layout_family":"standard","scj_media_provider":"","scj_media_url":"","scj_full_caption":"Free Wi-Fi","footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[225,4163,331],"class_list":["post-3127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-ict","tag-internet","tag-wifi-networks"],"yoast_head":"\n