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Knott-Craig Jnr to connect underprivileged

Alan Knott-Craig Jnr sees his new project, Isizwe, as a blueprint for connecting underprivileged communities.

Nicola Mawson
By Nicola Mawson, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 20 Aug 2013
Isizwe Project founder and CEO Alan Knott-Craig Jnr cannot believe a project to cover Tshwane with free WiFi is a go.
Isizwe Project founder and CEO Alan Knott-Craig Jnr cannot believe a project to cover Tshwane with free WiFi is a go.

Alan Knott-Craig Jnr, who suddenly left Mxit last October, believes basic connectivity to the Internet should be dealt with in the same way as other basic services, such as water and electricity.

Speaking to ITWeb, the man behind the project to cover the city of Tshwane with free WiFi in a bid to boost education, says: "I can't believe we've pulled this off."

Knott-Craig says the "secret sauce" to the project was the thinking that there should be a non-profit organisation that people can work with. He says the entity is focused on WiFi for low-income areas to boost access around educational institutions.

WiFi in these spaces can boost education by offering access to knowledge sources, says Knott-Craig, who is CEO and founder of Project Isizwe, which launched in April and is the enabler for the WiFi project.

At the launch of the project, executive mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said the network forms part of the city's ICT strategy, which was approved by the mayoral committee in June. The strategy aims to build a robust ICT infrastructure to stimulate economic growth, improve the delivery of basic services, improve revenue collection and bridge the digital divide, he said.

Pulling it together

Knott-Craig explains that the project currently has a R51 million budget for the first two phases, which includes some of the bandwidth requirements, as well as labour. Installers are paid to put up the infrastructure, operate it and maintain it for five years, he notes.

Most of the connectivity is being sourced from corporations with excess bandwidth, which donate this to the organisation, and earn a tax credit, as well as points towards broad-based black economic empowerment, explains Knott-Craig. He says the council would not be able to follow this route directly, because the corporations do not receive any benefit.

Infrastructure is generally about 15% of the overall cost, says Knott-Craig. The first phase, covering the Tshwane University of Technology Soshanguve Campus, University of Pretoria Hatfield Campus, Tshwane North College, Mamelodi Community Centre and Church Square in the Pretoria CBD, should be live by the end of November.

The second, which includes more than 200 schools in the Soshanguve, Mamelodi and Atteridgeville areas, is scheduled to be complete by the end of next year.

The third phase, targeted for 2016, will see "every single" public space around educational institutions in the city covered, says Knott-Craig. This stage has yet to be budgeted for, but the first two phases are fully-funded for five years with the R51 million from the city, he says.

Capital expenditure on equipment and bandwidth has fallen massively in the past five years, Knott-Craig points out. He says the company is simply an enabler and the solution just requires someone who knows the game and how the pipes work.

A blueprint

"The long-term plan is to provide free WiFi to all government educational institutions in the city of Tshwane by 2016, and a capital city of the future where Internet access is a universal public good and service," says Ramokgopa.

Project Isizwe is a citizen-driven initiative to provide free WiFi throughout the continent, giving all Africans the power to access information, education and jobs online. Isizwe is about facilitating communication and is a non-profit, acting as a coordination agent for the public, private and education sectors in each locality.

Knott-Craig sees the project as a model that can provide basic Internet services in the same way that water and electricity are provided. Users receive 250MB a day, and speeds will not go faster than 100Mbps, he adds.

In technology, what works is starting small and building on that, and while the Tshwane initiative will be enormous, it does start small, says Knott-Craig. WiFi is the future for basic Internet connectivity, while 3G is bulk water supply, he adds.

Comings and goings

Knott-Craig abruptly left Mxit last October and said he would not make any decisions around his future plans for six months, and was taking a break. His startling resignation from the social media company came just as the group secured R100 million in funding from shareholders and was "set for massive growth", according to a statement released at the time.

Now, Knott-Craig says he is in a fortunate situation to not have a profit motive.

Knott-Craig co-authored Mobinomics, the story of Mxit, with Gus Silber in 2012, and was CEO of current Blue Label unit, Cellfind, between 2003 and 2005. He headed up iBurst between 2006 and 2009, World of Avatar from 2010 to 2012, and then Mxit until last October.

After leaving Mxit, Knott-Craig told ITWeb that the move was "unexpected". In the official statement, he said his departure was because of differences between him and the shareholders as to how to execute Mxit's growth plan.

"While the shareholders and I share the same vision, we differ on how to get there. Therefore, I agreed to go my own way. I wish them all the best for the future. Mxit is Africa's biggest tech success story, and can be a global success story."

The long-term plan is to provide free WiFi to all government educational institutions in the city of Tshwane by 2016, says executive mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa.
The long-term plan is to provide free WiFi to all government educational institutions in the city of Tshwane by 2016, says executive mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa.

This was not the first time Knott-Craig Jnr has left a company suddenly, as he unexpectedly resigned from iBurst just as it was wowing the market with plans for rapid growth.

In an interview with Brainstorm, Knott-Craig Jnr said the surprise move from iBurst was prompted by relationship issues in his marriage. "I almost ruined my relationship and I almost ruined my life. It was more important to be at work than with my family," he told Brainstorm.

"In April 2009, we had just had our first child and I woke up thinking, 'That's it, I'm going to get divorced. My wife isn't supporting me, I have all this pressure at work and she's not helping me.' And she's saying, 'You're not helping me, you're not supporting me'."

Between 2003 and 2012, Knott-Craig co-founded and/or funded 17 companies, including Cellfind, Lucky Mobile, iFind34600, World of Avatar, Toodu, Triloq, 6th Line, Daily Maverick, ARC Telecoms, Pondering Panda, MorMor Media, and Boom.fm.

In April 2008, he published "Don't Panic", a best-selling book aimed at persuading emigrant South Africans to return home. In 2009, he was named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant (SA).

World of Avatar, which Knott-Craig founded in 2010, bought a 90% stake in Mxit in 2011. He also relinquished his stake in World of Avatar and his position as director when leaving Mxit.

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