SEVILLE – With an investment of €250 million, the government of Andalucia wants to provide the entire region with free Wi-Fi. With the ‘Andalucía Vuela’ (Andalusia flies) plan, Andalucia will have the largest contiguous Wi-Fi network in Europe.
Free Wi-Fi in all towns and cities in the southern Spanish region is the main pillar of the Plan Vuela. Plan Vuela is a digital strategy that starts with the implementation of Internet access in all offices and centres of the Junta de Andalucía. This also includes hospitals, schools, libraries, museums and administrative offices. In total, it concerns 10,500 centres.
The new free Wi-Fi network should facilitate procedures, reduce staff travel between government departments and promote remote working. On top of that, it will also create the largest Wi-Fi network in Europe.
“Connection without borders”
Elias Bendodo, spokesman for the regional government, indicated installation of the first access point will happen in the coming weeks.
“Plan Vuela is connection without borders to end the digital divide, fight the depopulation of the interior and promote digital learning”. According to Bendodo, it is of no use if government administrations digitise and citizens are left behind.
Public workspaces
Another important goal of the plan is to modernise all 760 Guadalinfo centres in the region. In the future, these will all have a free Wi-Fi zone and a remote working area. In addition, there will also be interactive whiteboards, active learning spaces, places for telecommuting and an access point to electronic.
Bendodo also said, digitalisation is the third engine that should drive the Andalucian economy in the future, along with agriculture and tourism.
