No date in sight for 2022 election promise of free wifi in Andalucía's public hospitals
On the campaign trail at the time, the Junta's head Juanma Moreno promised that there would be no charge for patients to watch television and that there would be free internet, but there is still no date for the latter
Iván Gelibter
Malaga
Wednesday, 4 October 2023, 18:04
It was the first day at the start of the 2022 election campaign. The president of the Andalusian regional government and PP candidate for re-election, Juanma Moreno, made two big promises in the field of public health: the first was that patients watching TV would no longer be charged; the second, that public hospitals would have free wifi for all patients.
Regarding the first promise, in recent months, instructions have been given not to renew the concessions that were held with the companies that managed the collection of the television credit payments. In Malaga city, this has affected the Regional hospital complex, including the Materno and Civil hospitals, and is expected to be extended to the rest of the public hospitals in the near future.
But what is known about wifi in hospitals? The short answer is: nothing. SUR consulted several official sources on this matter, who for the moment are unaware of any kind of timetable for the implementation of this initiative, although they recall that it is a promise of the legislature for more than a year.
The commitment to bring free wifi to all Andalusian public hospitals was, also, one of the measures included in the Junta's digital strategy announced by the regional government in November 2021.
The technical and economic cost differences between free televisions and the installation of wifi are notable. In the first case, it is 'simply' a matter of ceasing to renew concessions, i.e. to stop receiving money. The technical part is simple: remove the machines that charged for the use of the devices.
In the case of wifi, a procurement process would have to be initiated for the installation of the connections. Large sums would have to be invested in digital security, in addition to the monthly cost to the companies providing the connections. "We don't know anything, we have no idea when all this will start," said the sources consulted. We'll have to keep waiting, but at least until the internet arrives, television is free. Just like at home.
