WiFi leader

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 3 June 2007

The OR Tambo municipal district that consist of Mthatha, Lusikisiki and Port St Johns will soon become the WiFi leader in the Eastern Cape.
 
‘The municipality will in August become the first local government in the province to introduce wireless internet, commonly known as WiFi’ (Transkei surprise leader in WiFi tech, Hayward, Weekend Post, June 2007).
 
In other words, it will be the first municipality to introduce wireless Internet in the Eastern Cape. 
 
Why WiFi?
 
Well, certainly because of all the benefits associated with wireless Internet.
 
A list of WiFi benefits:

• Growth of businesses – ‘While many Eastern and Southern Cape restaurants, coffee shops and guest lodges are offering their patrons WiFi as a means of drawing in business, municipalities are also realising the enormous potential of "going WiFi", equipping their towns and cities with quick, fast and free wireless internet’ (Transkei surprise leader in WiFi tech, Hayward, Weekend Post, June 2007).
   
  In other words, WiFi ensures the growth of businesses, which in turn result in higher income for the municipalities involved. 

• Cheaper phone calls – ‘Experts say WiFi not only propels the growth of businesses in the area, one of the benefits is cheaper phone calls by using the internet to make the call, called Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP)…’ (Transkei surprise leader in WiFi tech, Hayward, Weekend Post, June 2007).
   
  In other words, WiFi makes cheaper phone calls possible because residents will have access to VoIP services via the Internet.

• Tourism boost – ‘…it also brings more tourists to the area because of their ability to work and access the internet while on holiday’ (Transkei surprise leader in WiFi tech, Hayward, Weekend Post, June 2007).
   
  In other words, WiFi gives tourism a boost because more people are likely to visit your area if you can provide them with Internet access while they are on holiday.

• Telkom  – ‘Already the Southern Cape coastal towns of Knysna and Sedgefield have turned to WiFi which, it is estimated, will save R4-million in Telkom fees over a five-year period’ (Transkei surprise leader in WiFi tech, Hayward, Weekend Post, June 2007).
   
  In other words, WiFi enables municipalities to cut their dependence on Telkom, which can lead to substantial savings.

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa) welcomes the continuing introduction of WiFi or wireless Internet in municipal districts. It will not only benefit the municipalities but also the communities involved.