Amidst continued struggles with Wi-Fi connectivity nationwide, Greece has announced plans to install 3,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots beginning in early 2020.

According to the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT), the hotspots will be in public spaces such as city squares, playgrounds, libraries, museums and pedestrian zones, among others. The locations will be identified and proposed by municipalities around Greece.

The project aims to cover as many public areas as possible — including islands and popular tourist destinations.

According to the Greek government, many of the hotspots allow up to 80 people to use Wi-Fi simultaneously.

Users will not need to enter personal data to access the free service. But there will be a time limit on usage — most likely one hour — after which users will need to reconnect.

Greece ranks 72nd for Internet connection speed and 22nd in mobile download speed — globally — according to a report from the cloud computing company Akamai Technology.

With an approximate budget of €15 million, the new Wi-Fi initiative is primarily EU-funded and is being implemented by the Greek Ministry of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media.

The Greek government launched a similar effort in 2004 seeking to create 600 Wi-Fi hotspots, but officials never completed the project.