Media, Arte, Cultura

HUNGARY: wi-fi project in Budapest

The Budapest Mayor Office plans to publish a call for tender in relation to building a wi-fi network covering the whole Hungarian capital

di Kriszta Maria Takacs

The idea is to divide Budapest into sectors. It would be possible to apply for single sectors or for all of them. The contract would be signed for ten years. The total cost of this project is several thousand millions Hungarian forint. It is a quite expensive project, in particular given that the potential providers are convinced that the Mayor Office would not give any financial support. The vice-mayor of Budapest so far denies this news. Mr Ikvai-Szabó, the vice-mayor of Budapest informed that the metal poles providing electricity ? partly ? belong to the mayor office. He admitted that in return for providing electricity to the poles in 24 hours, the Mayor Office of Budapest expect providers should guarantee certain services and sites to the mayor office and to the inhabitants free of charge. Covering only one square kilometer of the capital with wi-fi would cost 8-10 million HUF (30.000 ? 37.000 Euro). The cost is high, while the number of Wi-fi users is low, and therefore the chance of public support is doubtful. In addition, many of the existing free hotspots are underexploited in Budapest. There is a further problem in the concept, since it is almost impossible to provide good quality service in every flat. So, the question can be asked why the Budapest Mayor Office is keen to set-up the free wi-fi net in the city. Some experts claim the project would be a sort of camouflage serving as the basis for setting up a CCTV network in Budapest. Experts think the concept for the wi-fi net is still not sufficiently elaborated. Nevertheless it can be taken for granted that the tender will be published until the end of 2006. The EU allows the mayor offices to build broad band internet networks if none of the telecommunication companies intends to set them in a given settlement. For instances, Stockholm has already built its own network from public funds, and in Cologne, Vienna and in Amsterdam, similar plans are ready.


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