A small group of young people from the remote mountains of Thessaly in central rural Greece returned home to realize that their village Sarantaporo still had not 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 Sarantaporo Project was born.
Sarantaporo.gr is a community wireless network in the remote, isolated area of Sarantaporo village, central rural Greece.
To stimulate demand and uptake, the project’s volunteers provide training and support.
The €156,000 project was 59% EU-funded and won a European Broadband Award in 2019.
Begun in 2010, the network now provides 30 Mbps symmetrical connectivity, with a 1 Gbps backhaul transferred wirelessly over the mountain from the University of Thessaly.
Interviewed at the 2019 European Broadband Awards presentation ceremony, Vasileios Chrysos, Marketing Director of Sarantaporo.gr, underscores that “the European Broadband Award is really significant for our community network because 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”.
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.
More EU information on the project here.