The thirty-six Bulgarian municipalities that have not participated in the WiFi4EU free Wi-Fi initiative in the public sector so far, can now apply for the new competition, the Ministry of Transport Information and Communications announced.

The competition will open on March 17. Municipalities must register in the WiFi4EU portal before that date.

With a budget of EUR 14.2 million, the European Commission will distribute 947 first-applicant-first-funded vouchers, respecting the geographical balance. There will be no maximum number of vouchers for each participating country for this fourth competition.

86% of the Bulgarian municipalities have already received their vouchers from the three competitions conducted so far. A total of € 3,435,000 has been raised in the country to build high-speed wireless connections in public places. Bulgaria ranks first in the EU in terms of the number of municipalities covered by the WiFi4EU initiative, the statement said.