Tshwane upgrades and doubles free Wi-Fi speeds
Tshwane has doubled up the speeds at its Wi-Fi hotspots around the city.
Andrew Ngozo
The city of Tshwane recently more than doubled the maximum speed on its free Wi-Fi network. Live sites across the city now offer up to 15 megabits per second (mbps) from the previous 7mbps. The city’s network has also grown to 633 live sites over the past 18 months.
According to Blessing Manale, spokesperson for the mayor of Tshwane metro, it has prioritised high-density areas such as educational and health care facilities. “The city has always made it a point that internet access should fall in the same bracket as a rudimentary service, particularly among low income-earning areas,” he said.
Manale said the new speed does not mean the daily cap of 250MB per user will change as only 7% of the users are reaching their daily limit.
During his 2015 State of the capital address, Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said the provision of free access to the internet promotes social inclusion, stimulates inclusive growth and supports learning through the accessibility of digital education material. For example, residents are now able to telecommute and study after hours close to home as opposed to travelling to traditional places of study.
To date, the Tshwane free Wi-Fi service has enabled over 720 000 unique users to get online since the launch in November 2013, logging over 22 million sessions. So far, 2015 has seen on average 165 000 unique users per month.
The breakdown of the site types with free Wi-Fi services is as follows. There are 514 educational facilities, 29 health facilities, 41 service delivery points, 10 tourism and heritage venues and 39 sites on the A Re Yeng trunk route.
“We call on the community, parents and learners to take ownership of the assets we are bringing in their lives to ensure their longevity, keep the city connected and move us to be the e-capital of Africa as well,” said mayor Ramokgopa.
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