Cape Town rolls out free Wi-Fi in public buildings
Sixty-one public buildings in the City of Cape Town will have free Wi-Fi by the end of June 2015, the executive mayor of the city, Patricia de Lille has announced.
Wi-Fi will be provided inside public buildings via the City’s 102 SmartCape computer facilities and externally via 61 public access hotspots in places where the public usually queue for services, according to De Lille.
The external public amenities include clinics, administration buildings, traffic departments, fire stations and public transport interchanges in areas such as Langa, Nyanga, Uitsig, Valhalla Park, Athlone and Atlantis.
In a statement De Lille said each access point will cost the City between R60 000 and R100 000 to install. “Our 102 internal public access facilities are situated inside the City’s libraries, where we currently have 679 729 registered users,” she said.
The public will be able to access free Wi-Fi at the Bellville, Robbie Nurocklinic and Khayelitsha Site B Youth clinics by the end of December this year. Members of the public visiting the Hillstar and Plumstead administrative buildings and the Mitchells Plain and Nyanga switching centres will also be able to enjoy free Wi-Fi by the end of this year as well.
De Lille said the city of Cape Town is partnering with three commercial service providers – MWEB, Internet Solutions and Orange – to expand internet connectivity to previously disadvantaged communities across the city.
“The partnership with Orange is a first for the Paris-based international telecommunications giant in South Africa; they will offer a free 200 MB data bundle per day. Internet Solutions will offer a free data bundle of 50 MB per day, while MWEB will provide an uncapped data bundle for the trial period,” said De Lille.
Source: South Africa.info