Award-winning broadband project connects villages on remote mountains in central Greece

·

The Sarantaporo.gr project began when a small group of young people, from the remote Thessaly mountains in central Greece, returned home to realise their village still had no internet access.

Telecom companies had no interest in investing to bring the necessary infrastructure there, so the group set out to create a wireless community network for almost 3,500 people in 12 isolated mountain villages.

The project works by collaborating with the local community of Thessaly to deploy the telecommunications infrastructure, provide digital literacy skills for local inhabitants and nurture and develop the community.

Since 2010, the project has provided 30 Mbps of symmetrical connectivity, with a 1 Gbps backhaul transferred wirelessly over the mountains from the University of Thessaly.

Run by volunteers and local champions, the project’s larger goals are to improve economic opportunities and quality of life for the area’s population, encouraging both the younger and older generations to stay.

The €156,000 project, which was nearly 60 percent funded by the EU, has been such a success that it also won a European Broadband Award in 2019.

When interviewed at the 2019 European Broadband Awards presentation ceremony, Vasileios Chrysos, Marketing Director of Sarantaporo.gr, said “the European Broadband Award is really significant for our community network.”

“It is a recognition that small organisations like ours really contribute in bridging the digital divide not only in our area, but also throughout Europe.”

Find out more about the Sarantaporo.gr project here.

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

I understand Greek but struggle to speak it – how can I overcome that barrier

Understanding but not speaking is a common experience of heritage language or background language communities. 

Cyprus: Historical and political responsibilities of a national tragedy (Part 2)

In the previous article, we mentioned that with the Annan Plan we would now have a Federation of two states.

Melbourne seminar on Gemistos Plethon and the Eastern influence on the Western Renaissance

It’s hard to imagine that the great shift towards modern mathematical science was way back in the early 1400s.

A slice of sweetness: Niki Louca shares her beloved Apple Cake recipe

Niki Louca from My Greek Kitchen shares her favourite recipe for Apple Cake with The Greek Herald. You can follow her on Instagram.

Greece continues to hold strong appeal for Australian travellers, new report finds

Greece remains among the top 15 travel destinations for tourists from the U.S., Canada, and Australia, while significantly gaining popularity in India.

You May Also Like

First Olympic Agora to be held in Tokyo for 2020 Olympics

Tokyo will host the first-ever Olympic Agora in the Japanese capital's Nihonbashi district to celebrate this year's Olympic Games.

Weapon used in Thessaloniki knife attack that killed 19-year-old student found

Greek Police have recovered a weapon they believe was used to kill a 19-year-old student on Tuesday in a district of Thessaloniki.

Christodoulides and Erdogan discuss Cyprus issue during rare meeting

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides had an unexpected meeting over coffee on Thursday.