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Free WiFi for SA taxis

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 11 Jun 2014
Wi-Taxi expects strong interest from commuters in its connectivity initiative for SA's taxis.
Wi-Taxi expects strong interest from commuters in its connectivity initiative for SA's taxis.

During a launch event tomorrow, the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) is set to outline its blueprint to provide free WiFi access to passengers on the country's minibus taxis.

The initiative will be driven by Wi-Taxi - Santaco's technology partner - and will provide connectivity inside taxis as well as some taxi ranks.

Telkom will support the technical infrastructure of the project.

Wi-Taxi CEO Brian Mdluli expects "strong interest and acceptability" among consumers, following preliminary small-scale testing.

The company says a pilot project launched in April was "successful", adding the initiative is a response to government's plans to improve Internet access for South African citizens.

Although plans have yet to be specified, Wi-Taxi will look to supply the taxi industry countrywide - which it says transports over 15 million passengers daily.

Telkom Mobile - then named 8ta - ran a similar WiFi initiative in 2012, using around 300 branded cabs across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape in a bid to introduce users to its 3G network.

Passengers were granted access to the network using a singular WiFi username and password that remained consistent across cabs, with no limit placed on how much data they could use.

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