Four zones with free access to Wi-Fi Internet for the citizens and guests of Sofia in three of the most visited parks of the capital city were built by the Sofia Municipality together with A1. Two of the zones with wireless internet are in South Park – next to the entrances on “Byala Cherkva” and “Nishava” streets. The other locations where visitors can use free Wi-Fi are in Borisova gradina and Doctor’s Garden, respectively. sofia wifi

The project also includes a special home page that will be loaded on every smartphone when using the Wi-Fi network in these areas and will provide information on upcoming events in the city’s cultural and sports life. The basis of the project is the technological service A1 Smart Net , which provides wireless access to the Internet and allows the creation of a special home page when entering the range of Wi-Fi zones. On the information page, users of the free Wi-Fi zones can filter announcements by location, period and category – music, cinema, theater, art, sports, etc.

“The digitization of our city is at the heart of accelerating economic development, and we are putting a lot of effort into it. I am sure that access to Wi-Fi in the parks of Sofia will contribute not only to the citizens’ free time but also to an alternative way of working outdoors. It is in this that the basis for building the smart city of the future lies – for technology to go hand in hand with nature, with care for the comfort of the citizens and guests of Sofia”, comments Yordanka Fandakova, Mayor of Sofia Municipality.

“The new reality of an office at home now has an alternative in Sofia – in nature. The modern man needs dynamism, movement, outdoor time, a good balance between personal and professional life. All of this is good prevention against the mental health challenges that have arisen due to isolation in pandemic conditions. Sofia is becoming a carrier of energy for the transformation towards smart cities in Europe, and quality connectivity in the city is of particular importance for this. This is also the practice in the new all-smart cities of South Korea, for example, where we visited just recently. We are convinced that we are on the right track and we are strengthening our ambition to achieve a broad public consensus for investments in the smart city.” says Gencho Kerezov, Deputy Mayor for “Digitalization, Innovations and Economic Development” of Sofia Municipality.

“Access to the Internet is of prime necessity in the modern world and is part of the factors in achieving a conducive urban environment. The transformation of Sofia into a truly smart city would not be possible without technology, and I am glad that with the help of our solution, our partners from the Capital Municipality are taking steps in this direction,” commented Ivan Ivanov, Senior Director of Corporate Sales at A1 Bulgaria.

The 22 wireless access points built in the capital are also based on A1 Smart Net, part of the European Commission’s WiFi4EU framework, promoting free public access to wireless internet. They provide free Wi-Fi internet of 100 Mbit/s in the area from Vitoshka Street (St. Nedelya Church) to the National Palace of Culture and the Bridge of Lovers.

In the newly launched Wi-Fi zones, a total of 40 devices were used to ensure free access to the Internet for citizens. They are specially developed for use in open spaces and are resistant to dust, moisture, shock and vibration. The technology allows more than 10,000 users to benefit from the Wi-Fi network at the same time at a high load of Internet consumption. No additional settings or actions are required when “handover” between individual access points. The solution provides the representatives of the municipality with the opportunity to manage the service through a single online portal. In addition, an innovative Wi-Fi bench with special solar charging has been placed in one of the Wi-Fi zones in South Park. sofia wifi

A1 Smart Net is part of the company’s growing portfolio of ICT business services, which include system integration, cyber security solutions, Infrastructure as a Service and Software as a Service, Internet of Things, and more.