Premier
[1] By what date is it planned that access to free WiFi will be available to all residents of (a) the Metro and (b) rural areas of the Western Cape;
[2] whether there are any factors that could prevent her Department from meeting these dates; if so, (a) what are those factors and (b) how are they being mitigated;
[3] how is it anticipated that the roll-out of broadband in the Western Cape will benefit previously disadvantage communities;
[4] whether any programmes are planned to train people on how to make effective use of free WiFi; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
The provision of free WiFi falls under Stream 2 of the Broadband game-changer which is the responsibility of the Minister of Economic Opportunities. This reply was prepared in consultation with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism.
(1)(a) and (b) There will be limited free (minimum 250MB per device per month) Wi-Fi in 384 wards of the Western Cape by 31 March 2018. This includes wards in the Metro, as well as rural areas. The range of a hotspot signal can extend up to 200m from the building where it is erected.
The first 50 WCG-Neotel Wi-Fi hotspots went live during March 2016 (45 in the Metro, 3 in George and 2 in Stellenbosch); a further 100 hotspots will be installed during 2016/17; and the final 234 hotspots will be completed by the end of the 2017/18 financial year.
One of Neotel’s stipulations for the installation of a Wi-Fi hotspot at a Western Cape Government building is that the building needs to first be connected by fibre optic cable (through the Provincial Stream 1 connectivity project). Therefore the rollout of Wi-Fi hotspots follows Neotel’s fibre rollout.
In order to develop the commercial sustainability of the project, and on top of the free data allocation, Neotel is selling vouchers for additional data at the cheapest Wi-Fi rates in the country. A voucher for one day’s connectivity with 700MB of data costs R5; one week’s connectivity with 2GB of data costs R15; and one month’s connectivity with 5GB of data costs R45.
(2)(a) and (b) The main factor that could possibly prevent the Department from meeting these dates is technological. As described above, the project partner, Neotel, requires a Wi-Fi hotspot site/building to be connected by fibre optic backhaul. Neotel’s current fibre rollout plan does not extend to 384 different wards and in mitigation; negotiations with Neotel are underway for installing hotspots over wireless connections. Furthermore, alternative strategic solutions are being researched as a fall-back plan to ensure that Wi-Fi hotspots are installed in 384 different wards by the end of the 2017/18 financial year.
(3) International and internal departmental research has identified various benefits that broadband provides to individuals and communities, including:
a) Increased access to job opportunities, information and transactional opportunities. The Internet provides access to the rest of the world so that even a device as small as a mobile phone becomes a powerful tool to put us in touch with information, services, resources, people and opportunities. When we can read, watch, listen to, and engage with absolutely anything we can think of, then our citizens are a step closer to having what they need to move themselves, their families and their communities forward. Many jobs are advertised exclusively through digital communication channels, while online information (including health and wellness, and business information) far outpaces information gathered through any other medium. Transacting online can save time and costs, especially for citizens in rural areas or from previously disadvantaged communities who may no longer have to pay for copies, transport, and days away from work. At the Department’s previous Wi-Fi hotspot pilots, the most popular websites visited by the public are Wikipedia, Gumtree Jobs and Gumtree classifieds.
b) Increased usage of hotspots for educational purposes. This includes use of the Internet for school work and research, as well as online courses, qualifications and skills development opportunities.
c) Opportunity for improved service delivery. The Wi-Fi hotspots in the Western Cape allow permanent and unlimited free access to government websites. This provides an opportunity for all tiers of government to improve their interaction with citizens by providing more information, transactional opportunities and communication channels to improve service delivery.
d) Decrease the digital divide. By decreasing the digital divide between people that have access to, and those who don’t have access to the Internet, we aim to empower our citizens and stimulate economic growth. Research indicates a causal link between broadband penetration and economic growth. The World Bank has found that for every 10% increase in internet penetration in a developing country, GDP grows by 1,38%. Broadband provides the ideal enabling environment for personal improvement, growth across all economic sectors, SMME’s and entrepreneurship, stimulating innovation and competitiveness.
(4) Alongside the Wi-Fi hotspot project the Department is supporting the digital readiness of citizens and stimulating Internet usage through an Internet Champion Programme. The key objectives of the Internet Champion Programme are to:
• Improve the digital literacy of users.
• Explain to citizens how to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot and how to access the internet on any device.
• Show users the benefits of using the internet by accessing useful internet sites (such as job seeking, educational, government websites etc.)
• Create awareness regarding digital responsibility and online safety.
• To encourage different types of skills transfer amongst the local citizens.
The project is being executed by training “internet champions”, who are sourced from each local community, to deliver a digital literacy programme to the citizens at the hotspots. As the Wi-Fi hotspots go live, two internet champions will be stationed at each of the hotspots for a period of four months. Each is provided with a laptop and trained to deliver basic digital literacy and internet awareness content.
To this end, the WCG has custom-developed content, which consists of seven 2-minute animated videos that covers The Internet and You; How to Connect to the Internet; Welcome to Wi-Fi; Navigating the Internet; Being a Digital Citizen; Being Safe on the Internet; and How the Internet can Change Your Life. The first three videos are available in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. Once someone has watched all the videos, they are encouraged to complete a questionnaire, which if passed allows them to receive an Internet Champion certificate, signed by Minister Winde. The Internet Champions will be interacting with all members of the public, and will roam the ward and make contact with clubs, churches and other organisations to deliver the content to larger groups.
