Free Wi‑Fi at 72 sites across 64 municipalities in North Macedonia

Free public Wi‑Fi with speeds up to 200 Mbps is now available at 72 sites across 64 municipalities in North Macedonia, a project supported by the European Union and Germany. So far the network has registered more than 200,000 users and carried in excess of 115 terabytes of traffic.

The figures were revealed at the closing event of the “EU for the Western Balkans – Wi‑Fi in North Macedonia” initiative, implemented by GIZ in coordination with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Macedonian Telekom.

Mihail Rokas, the EU ambassador, described the rollout as a concrete example of Team Europe cooperation and stressed the EU’s focus on digital connectivity.

Focus on digital inclusion

Translating the project’s goals into practice, German Ambassador Petra Drechsler emphasized that the initiative aims to reduce barriers to information, education and public services for people regardless of where they live or their financial means.

"We are aware that rural and mountainous areas still lack adequate internet coverage, so we need to further intensify efforts and make internet access available and affordable for every citizen. At the same time, we must better promote our activities and ensure that everyone, including tourists, is informed about them," Rokas said.

"Digital inclusion is not about whether most of us can access the internet anywhere and at any time, but whether everyone can do so. Public Wi‑Fi is like a public park or library — part of the digital infrastructure that belongs to everyone. It enables access to information, education and public services not to depend on the size of someone's mobile data package or the quality of the mobile network coverage," Drechsler said.

Minister of Digital Transformation Stefan Andonovski noted that the original plan foresaw coverage in about 40 municipalities, but strong interest from local authorities expanded the scheme to 64 municipalities and 72 locations. He added that the high traffic volume — more than 115 TB so far — shows the infrastructure is being actively used, and named possible sites for a next phase: Sveti Naum, Debar Lake, Mavrovo and Kokino.

Officials described the initiative as a public‑private‑international partnership: national institutions and local governments worked alongside Macedonian Telekom and European partners to deliver hotspots intended to improve digital inclusion in both urban and remote areas.

Photo: press material from the event