Over 40% of Bulgarian Municipalities Have Won Vouchers For Wireless Internet

Bulgaria is ranked second in the European Union as a share of the municipalities covered by the free wireless internet in public places (WiFi4EU), the Ministry of Transport and Information Technology said, quoted by Econ.bg

43% of the Bulgarian municipalities have won vouchers to build high-speed access to the World Wide Web in the first competition held in November 2018. 215 Bulgarian municipalities have applied, with 113 of them receiving funding amounting to BGN 1 695 000.

The first place in the competition is held by Ireland, where 105 municipalities have applied and funding has been 59.

Local administrations from the North-East region are the most successful in the competition - 49% of all municipalities have received vouchers amounting to EUR 15,000. Second is the Southwestern region. 46% of municipalities receive funding there. The third place in the competition is the North Central Region with 44% of municipalities that have been able to qualify for the initiative. In the South Central District vouchers receive 41% of the municipalities, and in the South-East region - 36%.

Russe is the area with the largest number of municipalities that have won vouchers - free wireless internet will be built in 75% of municipalities. In the Shumen region, 70% of the municipalities are successfully involved in the initiative, while in the Pleven district - 64% of the local authorities.

14 of the district cities are among the first to build high-speed wireless internet networks in public places. The smallest population is Chavdar, and the largest is Plovdiv.