Pics: City of Tshwne
By Alice Mminele
The City of Tshwane has upgraded the maximum speeds on its Free Wi-Fi network to 15mbps (megabit per second). To date the average speed for users has been 7mbps.
The network has grown to 633 sites over the past 18 months, resulting in economies of scale that can be passed to citizens in the form of faster Wi-Fi speeds without any additional cost to the City.
City of Tshwane Mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa said the provision of the free Wi-Fi illustrates the desire to build a resilient, inclusive and liveable city. “We call on community members, parents and the learners to take ownership of the assets that government is bringing in their lives and ensure their longevity, and keep Tshwane connected, moving us to be being the e-Capital of Africa ” he said.
This follows on his State of the Capital Address where he 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; enabling citizens to tele-commute and study afterhours near their places of residence, as opposed to having to find transport to traditional places of study. He also said the economic benefits of free Wi-Fi are the result of improved market efficiencies due to the reduction of information asymmetries.
Mayoral Spokesperson and Public Affairs and Media Relations Head, Mr Blessing Manale, said the Tshwane Free WiFi service has enabled over 720,000 unique users to get online since it launched in November 2013 logging over 22m sessions. So far, 2015 has seen average monthly unique users of 165,000 per month that have benefitted from access to online information for education, economic opportunity and social cohesion.
The City has prioritised high density areas such as educational facilities, health care facilities and service delivery points to roll out the much needed technology with a view to enhance the social and economic transformation. “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.”
Mr Manale said the daily cap of 250MB remains unchanged, with an average of only 7% of users reaching their limit. “The unprecedented figures demonstrate that we are on the way to meet the needs of the technologically hungry youth populace.”
He said this development comes at the heels of the recent “Paperless Classroom” programme by the Gauteng Department of Education as another testimony to the success of the free Wi-Fi. All classes in Gauteng’s 375 schools went live with connectivity, e-books and 3D multimedia smart boards. This technology-enabled teaching and learning programme that entails the use of interactive boards and mobile devices such as tablets and laptops with complete internet connectivity, to conduct teaching and learning of Grade 12 learners.
Quick facts and figures on the Tshwane Free WiFi as at 23 July 2015
• 633 live sites
• Wards with Tshwane Free WiFi @ 95%+
• Unique users to date @ 720,000+
• Connections made to date @ 22,000,000+
• Average monthly unique users for 2015 @ 165,000+
• 7% of users reach their 250MB daily data limit and still enjoy unlimited Tobetsa access
• User profile is 48% female (52% male) and 80% of users are under 35 years of age
• 81% of connections are via mobile phones (11% computers and 8% tablets)
Breakdown of site types
• 514 sites @ Education facilities (466 Schools, 5 Tertiary Centres, 43 Libraries)
• 29 sites @ Health facilities (25 Clinics and 4 Sport Venues)
• 41 sites @ Service Delivery points (26 Customer Centres, 15 Municipal Centres)
• 10 sites @ Tourism and Heritage venues
• 39 sites @ Areyeng Trunk Route (30 Buses, 7 Stations, 2 Curb Stops)
