In today's connected world, access to the Internet should be considered an essential service, like water or electricity; and just like water and electricity, it should be available to everyone - regardless of circumstance.
This is according to non-profit organisation (NPO) Project Isizwe, which has over recent months been working with SA's municipalities to facilitate the rollout of free WiFi for public spaces in low income communities.
Planning and rollout started with the City of Tshwane last year, with the Western Cape government jumping on board in the first quarter of this year. A little over two weeks ago, Tshwane went live with the second phase of its free WiFi initiative, switching on 213 new sites, situated in schools in the Atteridgeville, Mamelodi and Soshanguve townships.
Here are some of Project Isizwe's fast facts around the two initiatives, which the NPO hopes will spark many more such programmes across SA:
1. Due to the proliferation of WiFi-compatible devices throughout Africa and the prohibitive costs of 3G in rural areas, WiFi is the most appropriate access medium for rolling out subsidised networks.
2. Free Internet zone (FIZ) locations allow users with WiFi-enabled devices, including mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers, to access free Internet without any logins or passwords.
3. FIZ sites are strategically chosen based on high concentration of learners.
4. A fair usage policy limits users to a data cap of 250MB per device per day and prohibits access to certain Web sites to protect against abuse of the free service.
5. On-net content is provided with unlimited usage to all users. This content includes, among others, educational and job searching applications.
6. The last mile and short haul transmission is provided by local wireless Internet service providers, while the long haul transmission is provided by telco partners.
7. Neotel provides Internet breakout at discounted rates as part of its corporate social responsibility.
8. The City of Tshwane is the first metropolitan municipality in SA to rollout free WiFi.
9. The five sites chosen for Tshwane's phase one are: Tshwane University of Technology Soshanguve Campus, University of Pretoria Hatfield Campus, Tshwane North College, Mamelodi Community Centre, and Church Square in the Pretoria CBD, catering for 25 000 users.
10. The Union Buildings and Pretoria City Hall were added as additional sites in the first half of 2014.
11. Phase two saw a further 213 Internet zones rolled out around Soshanguve, Mamelodi and Atteridgeville in July, creating capacity catering for one million users.
12. Phase two of the project cost a total of R53 million for three years fully funded.
13. Since the launch of the first phase on 26 November 2013, over 110 000 people have used the free WiFi.
14. The Western Cape is embarking on the first provincial free WiFi project in SA, which forms part of a R1.3 billion plan to eventually connect all residents to the Internet.
15. Free Internet zones will be rolled out at eight locations - four in Atlantis and four in Robertson ? by the end of this month, catering for up to 20 000 users.
Project Isizwe works on a basic cost per user of R1 per GB.
Share