Since 2024, Law 21.678 has established internet access as a public telecommunications service, with principles such as universality, continuity and technological neutrality.
Meanwhile, Subtel’s WiFi ChileGob program installs free WiFi zones in squares and public spaces nationwide, with 30-minute sessions and the option to reconnect, and has been adding hotspots through successive tenders.
What’s missing
Even so, the gap is large: according to Subtel, as of June 2026 77.3% of urban households had fixed internet, versus only 25.5% of rural ones. And a public WiFi zone covers a limited area around each hotspot: a few meters away, people are back on mobile data.
How community WiFi helps
Community WiFi doesn’t compete with public WiFi zones: it complements them. Instead of installing new hotspots one by one, it uses the spare capacity of routers ISPs already have in homes, creating coverage on neighborhood streets beyond the square. Its reach depends on where ISP networks go, so today it works best in dense urban areas.
- For municipalities: join their public connectivity to a much larger integrated network.
- For ISPs: new revenue on the network they already have, and a way to reach more people.
- For people: free minutes every day and affordable data packages, with no apps to download.
More in Streetwifi for municipalities and What is community WiFi?
Sources: Law 21.678 (BCN) · WiFi ChileGob · Subtel, H1 2026 statistics (via TrendTIC)