There’s nothing more frustrating than being in a city you don’t know and being unable to look up directions to the museum or restaurant you want to visit.
The European Commission wants to fix that problem so that people traveling around the continent are never without Google maps or Instagram (because no one will believe you were there if you didn’t post a picture). The body’s president, Jean-Claude Juncker, said he wants to create a network of wireless internet hot spots in public parks, squares, libraries and other buildings.
“Digital technologies and digital communications are permeating every aspect of life. All they require is access to high-speed internet. We need to be connected. Our economy needs it. People need it,” Juncker said this week at his annual State of the Union address. “So we propose today to equip every European village and every city with free wireless internet access around the main centres of public life by 2020.”
The EU plants to spend 120 million euro on the initial infrastructure for Wifi systems, but each city would then be responsible for maintenance, internet subscription costs and other associated expenses. The initiative is aimed at connecting areas that don’t already have Wifi access.
Also by 2020, Juncker wants at least one city in each country in the EU to have a 5G mobile network.