On November 4 2013, during an interview on Mega TV, PM Antonis Samaras said the following:
“I can promise you today that there will be free wireless internet throughout Greece (…)
We will make it happen. And that's why I said it. It will happen.
I looked into it, before saying it. This is something that is very important.
And it shows to the young people that someone cares. (…)
That there is a Greece that cares about these kids.
Otherwise we are done for.”
Asked by talk show host and media establishment journalist, Yiannis Pretenteris, what he would promise the country’s youth, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras pledged free Wi-Fi for all.
Well, that’s not exactly how it’s panning out.
According to the decision, published online under the state-run Diavgeia project, which publishes laws and administrative acts on the internet – the National Network of Wireless Access Points-WiFi hotspots he promised now sounds slightly misleading.
Although the budget for the project has soared, according to koutipandoras.gr(link in Greek), from €15 to 25 million, the technical specifications of the 4000 access points are rather disheartening.
- Each point offers a simultaneous connection to only 40-50 users at a time
- The maximum duration of the connection for users will be 30 minutes
- The distance from each hotspot that users will have a connection will be 20 metres indoors and 100 metres outdoors
- Users will have limited access and streaming will be prohibited (so that makes youtube out of the question)
- The maximum internet speed will be between 1 and 1.5 Mbps
This is not ‘free wifi for all’ but more like ‘bad internet for 40-50 people each time’. Let alone Samaras’ promise to have the system up and running by the end of the year. A tall order given the delay in the project’s tendering process, making it practically impossible to have it ready within the next two months.