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Italy launches nationwide free wifi app

The Italian government has launched an app which will allow residents and tourists to connect to wifi across the country using a single log-in.

Published: 20 July 2017 12:21 CEST
Italy launches nationwide free wifi app
File photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

Users will be able to connect instantly to a nationwide network of wifi hotspots – in railway stations, hotels and public institutions, for example – via the app, without filling in any further details after the initial authentication process.

The aim of the project, launched by Italy's Ministries for Economic Development and for Culture, is to simplify life for locals and tourists alike.

The app has both Italian and English language options, and to start with it has been launched in tourist hotspots including Rome, Bari, Milan, Trento, Tuscany, and Emilia Romagna.

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said the Wifi Italia app was an “indispensable tool for tourism”, suggesting that visitors could use it to book tickets for museums online as well as to research alternative sites nearby to avoid overcrowding in city centres.

The ministry will also use the data collected by the app to “improve Italy's cultural offerings”, he said, through anonymous data analysis and studies of user behaviour.

The Wifi Italia app is currently available on Google Play and the App Store, where it has been downloaded tens of thousands of times so far. It has received mixed reviews, with the majority of complaints relating to the fact it does not yet offer wifi access across the entire country.

Meanwhile, the Repubblica daily labelled the app a 'flop' after its reporters found they were unable to connect to several supposed wifi hotspots in Rome and Milan.

The ministries have said the app will be updated over the coming months to offer more comprehensive coverage. The app is part of a 'digitalization protocol' for the country's tourist sector, drawn up in July 2016 with the objective of improving digital services for visitors to Italy.

READ ALSO: Why you've never heard of Italy's best museum

Member comments

  1. It’s dumb that the app will only send a code to an italian phone number. I wanted to have it pre-set with my US number so I can find wifi upon arrival in Italy.

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CULTURE

Updated: What is Italy’s Palio di Siena and where can you watch it?

Italy's hotly-anticipated Palio di Siena horse race is back - but what exactly is it and where can you watch it?

Published: 16 August 2024 12:10 CEST
Updated: What is Italy's Palio di Siena and where can you watch it?

The renowned Palio di Siena horse race returns on Saturday, August 17th, with jockeys racing it out in Tuscany’s medieval jewel, Siena.

With origins dating back to 1633, the Palio di Siena is Italy’s most famous historic horse race.

The event is a competition between the neighbourhoods of Siena, called contrade, with each contrada having its own coat of arms and patron saints. There are 17 contrade in Siena, but only 10 compete – this year’s competitors are; Chiocciola, Oca, Istrice, Selva, Lupa, Valdimontone, Onda, Nicchio, Leocorno and Civetta.

It occurs twice a year in Siena’s main square, Piazza del Campo. The first race took place this summer on July 2nd. Each Palio lasts a total of four days; three days of celebrations and the final day being the race itself.

The race consists of three laps of Piazza del Campo. The starting point (the mossa), is made up of two ropes in which the 10 participating horses and jockeys must wait in order. The horse, with or without a jockey, which completes the three laps first wins.

The prize is a large silk-painted canvas, known as the drappellone, which is designed and created every year by a different artist.

Over the centuries, the race has only been cancelled a handful of times, including for World War II and the Covid pandemic. 

In recent years the Palio has been the subject of protest from animal rights groups who state that the horses suffer during the competition. Preliminary investigations into a defamation trial began at the start of June this year, after Walter Caporale, the national president of animal rights group Animalisti Italiani (Italian Animalists) was accused of defining the event’s organisers as “sadistic and uncivilised.” The next hearing is set for February 28th 2025. 

The final race this year was supposed to take place on Friday, 16th August but it was cancelled due to heavy rain.

Watch the Palio di Siena live on television or via streaming on Italian channel LA7 from 4.45pm on Saturday.

Are you tuning in to the Palio di Siena? Let us know what you think about it in the comments below.

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