Preliminary results of the first WiFi4EU call

 As a result of this first round, with the total budget of €42 million, 2,800 municipalities will receive vouchers of €15,000 to set up a Wi-Fi hotspot in public spaces.

Response from municipalities to the first WiFi4EU Call has been impressive. Over 4,000 municipalities applied within the first 10 seconds of the opening of the call on 7 November. By the closing of the application period on 9 November, the Commission had received over 13,000 applications from all participating countries across Europe.

The current call is worth €42 million and will allow for 2,800 vouchers to be allocated. All participating countries, with the exception of Icelend,  exceeded the minimum of 15 vouchers, most countries within seconds after the call was launched

The budget of the WiFi4EU scheme is €120 million between 2018 and 2020. The WiFi4EU voucher provides a fixed amount of funding of €15,000 per municipality aimed to support the installation of state-of-the-art Wi-Fi equipment in the centres of community life, such as town halls, public libraries, museums, public parks or squares.

What will happen next?

Following the applications, the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), the Commission's executive agency in charge of implementing the WiFi4EU programme, is making the necessary checks of the admissibility and eligibility of the municipalities.

Then the Commission will be announcing the winning municipalities in December.

The beneficiaries will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis. Every participating country is guaranteed a minimum of 15 vouchers and can potentially win a maximum of 224 vouchers.

If you missed the call for applications or your municipality does not win the voucher from this call, you will have chances to apply for three more WiFi4EU calls in the coming two years. In the meantime, all registered municipalities can join our dedicated WiFi4EU Community to give feedback on the initiative, engage with municipalities from all over Europe and be updated on the WiFi4EU programme.

WiFi4EU: Applications November 2018

More information

WiFi4EU call for proposals

Access WiFi4EU Community