The city of Esch-sûr-Alzette has signed an agreement with Luxembourg City to share its HotCity wireless internet technology platform. Although it will retain control over its network, authentication methods, billing and access, the partnership with the capital city will allow Esch to increase its own network’s efficiency and attractiveness. The Esch network will incorporate some 125 hotspots when completed. The first phase will see antennae installed in the city centre and should be operational on 1 April. A second phase will see the network extended to Belval before the rest of the city is connected by the end of 2010.

Access to the Esch Hot City service will be free of charge during an initial phase of around 18 months – again mirroring the policy of Luxembourg City, where tariffs were only introduced in November 2008. Subscribers to Eschspeed, the city’s TV cable broadband internet provider, which currently has some 3,000 clients, will receive preferential rates when tariffs are introduced. The city authorities are currently working on what sort of content will be provided via the network.

HotCity has already won plaudits all over Europe and was selected as a finalist at the Cisco Networkers Innovation Awards 2008 in the Most Society Impacting Network category. HotCity was launched in 2007 and currently covers the entire upper city, the station area, Limpertsberg, the Cloche d’Or, Grund, airport at Findel and LuxExpo on the Kirchberg via some 150 hotspots. The Luxembourg City project has been in negotiation to establish commercial partnerships with service providers Tango and Voxmobile. New content targeted at the young is also being developed in conjunction with the ministry of education. By the end of 2009, HotCity Luxembourg will be available throughout the capital via a total of 400 hotspots.