Google rolls out free wi-fi on Cape Flats
GOOGLE South Africa has announced the launch of Google Station on the Cape Flats. This means community members will have access to free wi-fi at over 109 sites on the Cape Flats.
The announcement was made yesterday at the technology company’s first “Google for South Africa” event in Johannesburg where various initiatives and products tailored to the South African market were announced.
Google Station is a programme that provides fast, free and open wi-fi to the area in partnership with ThinkWifi, an internet service provider.
Google Africa director Nitin Gajria said: “By gaining access to information via the internet, we hope that people in these communities will get a more equal opportunity to learn and develop, and live more empowered lives.”
Google Station is now available in over 100 locations across Langa, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Delft, Elsies River and Philippi.
The chief executive of ThinkWiFi, Janine Rebelo, said that through the partnership with Google, they would provide unlimited wi-fi access to communities in townships, public areas, universities, transportation hubs and shopping malls.
Last year, Google awarded $6 million (then R88m) to 36 non-profit organisations across Africa through the Google Impact Challenge; 12 of them were from South Africa.
In addition to this, Google will be investing $1 million as part of its five-year commitment to non-profits and social enterprises, to support the economic empowerment of girls and women in South Africa. The head of
Marketing of Google SA, Asha Patel, said: “One of the key focus areas of our programmes has been the empowerment of women and minority groups, and I’m happy to say that 48% of the people we have trained in South Africa are women.”
Most recently, the department of the premier announced the launch of 321 public wi-fi hotspots in the province over the next financial year.
In a reply to a parliamentary question in the provincial legislature, Premier Alan Winde confirmed that 103 hotspots had already been installed at schools across the province over the 2017/18 financial year, as part of a project which was launched in 2016 with the aim of providing universal internet access.
DA spokesperson for the premier and constitutional matters Ricardo Mackenzie said: “I am excited on behalf of the 244 schools across the City of Cape Town Metro and 77 schools in the Overberg, West Coast, Cape Winelands, as well as Eden and Central Karoo areas that will soon have access to the internet at free public wi-fi zones, which helps decrease the digital divide in our province.
“The roll-out will specifically prioritise disadvantaged areas such as Gugulethu, Nyanga, Bishop Lavis and Philippi.”
Internet access in the country remains a major challenge and the General Household Survey of 2017 revealed that only 1 out of 10 households have access to the internet.