Press Release 2019-596
Aachen, October 21, 2019—September 19 saw the launch of the third round of the EU funding initiative WiFi4EU. The program helps cities and municipalities across the EU to establish public Wi-Fi networks: Be it in parks, in large squares, in libraries or at health centers, EU citizens everywhere should benefit from reliable, free Wi-Fi. To this end, the EU is awarding a total of 8,000 funding vouchers each worth 15,000 euros for the purchase and installation of suitable hardware. However, not all products on the market are WiFi4EU compliant. The German infrastructure supplier LANCOM Systems has a high-performance portfolio of Wi-Fi products that meet all of the requirements.
Free Wi-Fi in even the smallest village in Europe: This is the vision behind the WiFi4EU initiative, which the European Commission is funding with a total of 120 million euros. The first two rounds of funding have seen more than 23,000 municipalities apply. These will be joined by several thousand more when the third application phase is completed. With the first of these projects already implemented, the majority of them are still in the bidding phase.
Wi-Fi hardware: No funding without Passpoint
Cities and municipalities that receive one of the coveted 15,000 euro funding vouchers must redeem it within 18 months for the purchase and installation of suitable Wi-Fi infrastructure components. In order to be eligible, this hardware must meet certain requirements: Along with technical requirements including the support of the Wi-Fi standard 802.11ac (Wave 1) as a minimum as well as updates over a period of at least five years, all access points must be Wi-Fi Alliance Passpoint certified. Based on Hotspot 2.0 technology, Passpoint makes it easier for mobile devices, like smartphones, tablets and laptops, to access the Wi-Fi hotspot. Users who have logged in just once can connect to any other WiFi4EU hotspot without further manual intervention. Mobile devices automatically connect to the hotspot using secure WPA encryption. Passpoint thus improves the security of public wireless networks and also ensures user-friendly pan-European roaming between WiFi4EU hotspots.
The WiFi4EU access points from LANCOM
LANCOM offers three high-performance WiFi4EU-compliant Wi-Fi access points so that cities and communities throughout Europe can establish public hotspots based on high-speed 802.11ac/Wi-Fi 5: Data rates of up to 867 Mbps make the LANCOM LN-830U the ideal solution for high-speed Wi-Fi within buildings. For stable networking and interference-free outdoor Wi-Fi, the LANCOM OAP-830 comes with integrated sector antennas for 2.4 and 5 GHz. Also designed for outdoor areas is the LANCOM OAP-822: Four external antennas provide high-performance Wi-Fi at up to 867 Mbps over wider areas.
What LANCOM stands for is quality and security “Made in Germany” and, by purposefully renouncing backdoors, the company is committed to a digital transformation that is trustworthy and privacy-compliant. All access points enable the secure separation of public hotspots from municipal administration networks by means of SSID.
Everything you need to know about the WiFi4EU program, conditions of funding and suitable hardware is available on the LANCOM WiFi4EU information page.
About LANCOM Systems:
LANCOM Systems GmbH is a leading European manufacturer of network and security solutions for business and the public sector. The portfolio includes hardware (WAN, LAN, WLAN, firewalls), virtual network components, and cloud-based software-defined networking (SDN).
Software and hardware development as well as manufacturing take place mainly in Germany, as does the hosting of the network management. There is a strong focus on trustworthiness and security. The company is committed to products that are free from backdoors and is a holder of the trust mark “IT Security Made in Germany” as initiated by the German Ministry of Economics.
LANCOM Systems was founded in 2002 and has its headquarters in Würselen near Aachen, Germany. Customers include SMEs, government agencies, institutions, and major corporations from all over the world.
Since summer 2018, the company has been an independent subsidiary of the Munich-based technology group Rohde & Schwarz.
Your contact for media enquiries:
Caroline Rixen
LANCOM Systems GmbH
Phone: +49 (0)2405 499 36 398
E-Mail: press@lancom.eu
www.lancom-systems.com