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Free WiFi access set to explode in SA

By Marilyn de Villiers
Johannesburg, 16 May 2017

With just one WiFi hotspot for every 6 500 people, South Africa is hugely underserviced in terms of WiFi penetration - but that is set to change significantly over the next few years.

That's according to Riaan Graham, Director of Sales in Sub-Saharan Africa for US-based Rukus Wireless, a pioneer in the WiFi infrastructure market with over 56 000 customers worldwide.

"When you think back to where we were a few years ago, the growth of WiFi penetration in South Africa has been phenomenal. So has the improvement of the whole WiFi hotspot experience," he said.

When Rukus Wireless first entered the South African market some five years ago, each access point could deliver speeds of just 54m/bits per second. When shared among more than two or three users simultaneously, the performance was appallingly slow.

Today, WiFi access points are delivering speeds of 1.7g/bits per second.

We are anticipating the South African WiFi market to grow by around 30 percent annually," Graham said. "This will be driven largely by the retail sector, but as the roll-out of fibre infrastructure to the suburb gains momentum, WiFi penetration will explode."

He also anticipates significant support for the coming WiFi revolution from the major metropolitan authorities, most of whom are already working on developing different models to enable the delivery of free WiFi.

Some metros are looking to provide free access to WiFi in public areas, and to supplement this with a range of WiFi-linked services. Tshwane, for example, already has 750 points of presence and provides service to 300 0000 municipal users per day. In addition, the metro's A Re Yeng buses are WiFi-enabled, allowing commuters to access the Internet as they ride around the city.

However, Tshwane's free WiFi service is not without limits: users get only 500MB free access per day.

The City of Cape Town is also starting to introduce WiFi access on its buses, while Gautrain is investigating the possibility of implementing WiFi on its trains and buses as well. Even the taxi industry is looking at models to deliver WiFi access to their passengers.

"Talks are still in the very early stages. The major problem at this stage is now to monetise the service," Graham said and added that monetisation of free WiFi provision remained one of the biggest conundrums in the roll-out of the service.

"Globally, the reliance on ubiquitious WiFi is so strong that it is expected to be free. South Africa is moving in that direction too. However, nothing can ever be absolutely free - someone has to pay, and find ways to recoup the costs.

"That's why we believe the retail sector will spearhead the WiFi drive and it is being rolled out into more and more malls. This will result in customers starting to demand 'free' Internet access, and as a result, the models for its delivery will become more customer-focused."

In other words, even if customers do not pay money for WiFi access, they will probably have to give the providers of the service something in return. And that is likely to be information about themselves.

"When consumers sign up for free WiFi access, they will have to provide some personal information about themselves. The property owners will know who is in the mall, where that person goes, how often he or she visits and so on. That will enable more relevant and targeted marketing and it will also enable mall owners to better understand the flow of traffic through their properties," he concluded.

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