EU to provide free public 100Mbps Wi-Fi in 28 member states

The internet is one of the most indispensable   conveniences of the 21st-century lifestyle and yet access to it is not exactly free or affordable for many around the world. The EU plans to change this for European citizens through a program that will grant free public Wi-Fi for everyone.

Jean-Claude Juncker, current president of the European Union’s executive body, is pushing to provide free public Wi-Fi that reaches everywhere by 2020, reports ExtremeTech.

The public Wi-Fi project, or Wifi4EU, will have a minimum download speed of 100Mbps for all European households. Hospitals, administrations and other public services reliant on digital technologies will have a minimum of 1 GBps for upload and download. Finally, 5G access will be made uninterruptible on all major roads and railways.

Juncker’s plan also includes expenditure from the commission amounting to a maximum of €120 million to install the necessary equipment. It is presumed that municipalities will be shouldering maintenance costs and other ancillary expenses. However, it is worth noting that the EU has 28 member states and dividing €120 million will result in each country receiving only a little over €4 million from the commission to set up the facilities.

Apart from the infrastructure plan, Juncker also talked about having copyright protections for creators and artists whom he claims to be their “crown jewels.” He did allude to a set of controversial copyright laws  such as “Google tax” and the “YouTube rule.”

The vision for Wifi4EU is a grand one despite questions on how it can actually be done. If and when it does get implemented, it could prove to be a major development in the move to provide internet connectivity to every person on the planet.

READ: Terabit fiber optic technology gets closer to commercial use

On another note, researchers have made strides in making Terabit fiber optic technology more viable for commercial use. Perhaps Wifi4EU can benefit from this in the future.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

M&A fever helps European stocks rally

Paris — European stocks rose on Monday as a flurry of big mergers and acquisitions deals boosted sentiment and helped the market bounce back after a two-session dip.

Shares in Irish drugmaker Elan jumped 8.3 percent after US peer Perrigo agreed to buy the firm for $8.6 billion, sparking a rally in health care stocks, with Shire up 2.1 percent and AstraZeneca up 1.2 percent.

Media shares also surged, boosted by a merger plan between Publicis and Omnicom unveiled over the weekend, in a deal worth $35.1 billion.

France's Havas soared 5.7 percent and UK's WPP added 1.7 percent. Publicis shares were halted on Monday.

At 0802 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent at 1,209.40 points, after losing about 0.8 percent in two sessions. The benchmark index has risen 9 percent since late June.

Also among the biggest gainers on Monday, France's Essilor, an ophthalmic optics company, rose 4.1 percent after buying a 51 percent stake in photochromic lens unit Transitions Optical from PPG Industries Inc. for $1.73 billion.

The media and health care sectors have outperformed the market this year, with the STOXX Europe 600 media index up 17 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 health care index up 14.4 percent, while the FTSEurofirst 300 is up 6.9 percent.

"These big M&A deals are a big boost for the market, although the buzz is usually short-lived, so I remain relatively cautious at this point," said Philippe de Vandiere, analyst at Altedia Investment Consulting, in Paris.

"The market has risen quite a lot already and even though we didn't really have nasty surprises in earnings, there's no big catalyst seen ahead, and we see investors turning more defensive."

On the earnings front, French food group Danone gained 3.1 percent after saying sales growth accelerated in the second quarter, and keeping its full-year 2013 profit and sales outlook.

Siemens rose 1.5 percent. The German engineering conglomerate said its supervisory board will decide on the early departure of its chief executive on July 31.

Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index was up 0.6 percent, Germany's DAX index up 0.8 percent, and France's CAC 40 up 0.5 percent. The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index was up 0.3 percent at 2,748.96.

"I'm quite positive, the market goes up slowly with some consolidation moves happening during the session," TradingSat analyst Alexandre Tixier said.

"Trading volumes remain brisk, which is a sign of strong buying appetite at this point. Our exposure to equities is at 80 percent right now." — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com