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02. 11. 09. - 16:00

Vienna ÖVP official calls for free WLAN

By David Rogers

A top Vienna official has called for free wireless local area networks (WLAN) across the city.

People’s Party (ÖVP) municipal councillor and information and communications technology expert Roman Stiftner said today (Mon): "If Vienna does not want to sleep through the age of modern information and communications technologies, it must quickly become active in that area.

"A free WLAN network on the main squares in the city would send an important signal and be a step towards the future. Such a network is already available in Switzerland and Finland."

He noted the Swiss city of Lucerne had a WLAN that offered residents free internet surfing for up to 90 minutes as a result of cooperation between city authorities and a private sponsor.

Stiftner called for access points every 100 metres in areas covered by the network. He said that the city government had been supporting broad-band internet access and had its own glass-fibre network.

He added a free WLAN network would constitute "an important contribution" to greater use of information and communications technology in the city.

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