International holidays - World Wi-Fi Day

The term Wi-Fi was coined by the consulting firm Interbrand Corporatio in 1999. The 4-letter abbreviation denotes a standard for the wireless transmission of digital data streams over radio channels. The creator of the protocol is Australian engineer John O'Sullivan. Wi-Fi technology allows one device to communicate with others using radio waves, building a local network. Despite the widespread use of wireless Internet, it is still not available to many people on the planet. World Wi-Fi Day, which is celebrated on June 20, is intended to draw attention to this problem. Canberra radio astronomer D. O'Sullivan developed the first wireless network protocol in 1991 while conducting an experiment to detect a black hole explosion. Wi-Fi data transfer speed at that time was 100 Mbit/s. The standard formed the basis for the development of wireless equipment, which was initially quite expensive. The first network device, called WaveLan, operated at a frequency of 2.4 GHz. The wireless connection speed did not exceed 2 Mbit/s. In 2004, this figure was 54 Mbit/s, in 2009 - 600 Mbit/s, and in 2016 it exceeded 7 Gbit/s. Gradually, wireless technology became available to people of various income levels. Today, residents of many countries around the world can afford Wi-Fi routers and pay for operator services. They have access to the Internet both at home and at work, in educational institutions and places of leisure. The initiator of World Wi-Fi Day is the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA). This international organization was founded in 2003. Its members include major operators, communication service providers and leading telecommunications companies. The WBA expressed concern that high-speed and regular internet are not available to most citizens in developing countries around the world. To draw attention to this problem, it was decided to establish World Wi-Fi Day. About 4 billion people on Earth do not have access to the Internet, even from mobile phones. This “digital divide” must be overcome to improve people’s computer literacy, broaden their horizons and increase social mobility. To this end, the WBA encourages case studies and awards experts who find ways to solve the problem of lack of access to wireless Internet among citizens of developing countries. In Russia, Wi-Fi, according to Government Decree, appeared in 2004. Three years later, an order was issued to allocate radio frequencies for short-range devices (routers). Since 2011, the requirement for mandatory registration of user equipment with Roskomnadzor has ceased to apply. In addition to connecting to the network at home, services are provided by various organizations on a commercial basis. At the end of 2021, 185.7 thousand public Internet access points using wireless technology were registered in Russia. In terms of the number of free access points, Moscow is one of the three world leaders, ahead of London, New York and Tokyo. However, in many cities and countries around the world, using a wireless network is quite problematic. The initiators of World Wi-Fi Day call on the governments of all countries, suppliers of modern technologies and equipment manufacturers to make broadband connections accessible to residents of every corner of the planet. Lectures and formulas, held on June 20, are aimed at recognizing the important role of Wi-Fi in the socio-economic development of states and people's lives.