City of Johannesburg Finance MMC Jolidee Matongo officially launched the roll-out of free WiFi hotspots across Braamfontein on 13 September.
According to the MMC, the free WiFi hotspots provided for by the City is in line with their Growth and Development Strategy objective of transforming Johannesburg into a ‘smart city’. Matongo said, “In its plans to transform into a smart city, City of Joburg plans to have residents accessing online municipal services, economic opportunities, and academic materials courtesy of a reliable free WiFi connectivity.” Joburg’s free WiFi hotspots now offer each single device 500MB of data a day, up from 300MB, allowing users to surf and download at a speed of 5MBps.
The City is in the belief that the roll-out of free Internet connectivity will enable Joburg to compete comparatively with international peers from across the globe and to stay ahead of the curve on the African continent. All of the 84 active free WiFi hotspots run on solar power and are manned by the City’s broadband network entity, the Metropolitan Trading Company.
“The City has demonstrated its commitment to assist residents who have limited access to the Internet – a barrier to economic opportunities – by allocating R40 million from the 2020/21 budget to the roll-out of free WiFi hotspots to hostels, flats, student villages and old age homes.”
The City hopes this feat will improve municipal services and drive economic growth, particularly in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdown. The new normal has prompted the City to revisit the roll-out of free WiFi as a priority on an equal footing with other essential services such as the provision of water and electricity.
Matongo concluded that regular daily checks were conducted on the hotspots to ensure efficient service and many of them were in areas that had surveillance cameras to monitor criminal activity.
