Wi-Fi NOW Enters Organisation to Support Europe's WiFi4EU Initiative

AARHUS, Denmark, May 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

This week the European Commission will begin the process of awarding thousands of municipalities across the EU with grants to build municipal Wi-Fi networks. During the next three years, the EC will inject a total of €120M into new infrastructure for free Wi-Fi across the EU.

At Wi-Fi NOW, we want to make certain that this project - which is of unprecedented importance to Europe and to the global Wi-Fi industry - is successful. To that end, Wi-Fi NOW has today entered into an agreement with several partners to form a support and service organisation aimed at ensuring the successful introduction of WiFi4EU-funded free Wi-Fi services.

The organisation is known as the WiFi4Europe Association & Advisory or WAA. The WAA relies on (and is partly owned by) a number of partners and is supported by corporate donors. In the spirit of full transparency, we will release more information on the WAA's structure and ownership in due course.

The expressed goal of WiFi4EU is to effectuate the build of up to 8,000 municipal Wi-Fi networks. But a successful free municipal Wi-Fi service involves a lot more than simply installing a handful of Wi-Fi routers and connecting them to the Internet. To ensure popular success of prospective WiFi4EU networks, WAA provides a wide range of services including project audit and review, network solution development, optimizing project utility value, community creation and support, development of WiFi4EU best practices, WiFi4EU certification programs (targeted for 2019), and more.

The advisory services and memberships are offered at minimum possible cost in order to benefit as many EU municipalities - large and small - as possible. The WAA secretariat is staffed by technical and institutional experts with specific expertise and experience in municipal Wi-Fi.

Here is a short appeal: If you are a municipality or equipment/service supplier with the intention of participating in the WiFi4EU program, we encourage you to contact us immediately. It is of the utmost importance for the success of WiFi4EU that as many as parties as possible engage in information sharing and consistent practices from the start. We stand ready to serve you.

About Wi-Fi NOW:  

Wi-Fi NOW is the world's leading event, media, and advisory organisation dedicated to the global Wi-Fi industry. For more about Wi-Fi NOW go to http://www.wifinowevents.com

About WiFi4Europe.org: 

WiFi4Europe (WAA) supports the interest and goals of the community of WiFi4EU recipients and the Wi-Fi industry across Europe. WiFi4Europe delivers advisory services and success-critical information to support its government and corporate members and to facilitate the successful build and sustainable use of thousands of WiFi4EU free Wi-Fi networks across the EU. For more and to contact us, go to http://www.wifi4europe.org.