European Union plans to offer free Wi-Fi to all

Free Wi-Fi for all: That was one of the proposals to come out of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's annual State of the European Union address on Wednesday.

The project, WIFI4EU (Wi-Fi for EU), aims to put free Wi-Fi hotspots open to all EU citizens in parks, squares, libraries and other public buildings.

The Commission will provide €120 million ($135 million) through 2019 to subsidize the purchase and installation of Wi-Fi hotspots in 6,000 or more locations, but the provision of bandwidth and ongoing maintenance will be left to the local communities.

The hotspots will be open to all EU citizens -- although given the budget, it's unlikely many of them will be able to get a signal without a long walk.

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