Hundreds of new free Wi-Fi sites to be deployed
Tshwane is on the way to realising its vision to provide free internet connectivity to every citizen living in the metro.
Tshwane has a vision of eventually providing free Wi-Fi connectivity to every street, every corner and every household in the metro. To get a step closer to achieving this, another 1 848 sites will be deployed in the next 18 months – from Bronkhorstspruit to Centurion.
The Tshwane free Wi-Fi project currently already served more than two million users over 575 sites since its roll-out in November 2013, Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said in his 2015 state-of-the-city address on Thursday.
Ramokgopa believed access to Wi-Fi must be viewed as a basic service, undeniably analogous to that of water and electricity. The metro therefore started providing free connectivity in public spaces throughout low-income communities, beginning with a capacity for 25 000 users spread across five locations in Soshanguve, Mamelodi and Atteridgeville.
“We currently have coverage across all seven regions of the metro with at least one free Wi-Fi site in 96 wards. In addition, there are 566 801 unique devices or users registered and almost 15 million total sessions have been logged thus far, representing a growth rate of 278,8% in comparison to the last calendar year,” the mayor said in his address, which he delivered at Freedom Park.
At the same time, he announced Tshwane Wi-Fi Chat, a service available over Tshwane’s free Wi-Fi network, which allowed the municipality to effect real-time conversations with citizens. Saying that Tshwane Wi-Fi chat went live on Thursday, Ramokgopa said this hyper-localised social network would enable the metro to create live chat rooms pertaining to any relevant discussion topic including updates such as load-shedding or scheduled maintenance work.
“The provision of free access to the internet promotes social inclusion, stimulates inclusive growth and supports learning through the accessibility of digital education material. The economic benefits of free Wi-Fi are the result of improved market efficiencies due to the reduction of information asymmetries,” he said.
Independent research showed that, on average, every 10% increase in broadband penetration increased a country’s GDP per capita by 1,28%, increased employment by 0,28 % and facilitated the growth of SMMEs.
As an additional service to residents, Wi-Fi TV was also launched in November last year which resulted in hundreds of unemployed young people being interviewed to recruit local journalist teams.
“In the first five months since its launch, Wi-Fi TV has had over 6 million views, immediately becoming the most popular content on the Tshwane Free Wi-Fi network.
Ramokgopa said the secret to the city’s success with Wi-Fi had been to ensure that costs were kept low, beginning with small successes and then accelerating the speed of the project over short periods of time.
“The result is the fruition of a dream that many South Africans share – that internet access can be made available to the poor thereby contributing towards bridging the digital divide and ensuring a prosperous country for all.”
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