The City of Cape Town plans to roll out free Wi-Fi in public buildings across the Metro by the end of this year.

In a statement, the executive mayor of the city, Patricia de Lille announced that the city would provide free Wi-Fi, by June 2015, to 61 City buildings across the metro. Wi-Fi will be provided both inside public buildings, via the 102 SmartCape Computer facilities, and externally via 61 public access hotspots in areas where members of the public congregate and queue for services.

“The city’s 102 internal public access facilities are situated inside our libraries; where we currently have 679 729 registered users,” she said. 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.

According to De Lille each access point will cost the city between R60 000 and R100 000 to install and public Wi-Fi services will be operational at the Bellville Clinic, Hillstar Administrative Building, Mitchells Plain Switching Centre, Nyanga Switching Centre, Plumstead Administrative Building, Robbie Nurock Clinic, and Site B Youth Clinic in Khayelitsha, by the end of December this year.

De Lille said the city has partnered with MWEB, Internet Solutions, and Orange to expand internet connectivity to previously disadvantaged communities throughout the metro.

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.

De Lille added that the City of Cape Town it is currently investigating providing Wi-Fi on MyCiTi buses and is in the process of conducting a pilot project with an external entity.

“Our brand new Wi-Fi provision has been made possible by the City’s investment in broadband fibre optic networks in line with its City’s Universal Broadband Network strategy, which is geared towards rolling out broadband infrastructure throughout the metro.”

This forms part of the City’s R1.3 billion programme to complete the roll-out over the next seven years.

“The public Wi-Fi project demonstrates that the City’s fibre optic network has reached the point where it is robust and extensive enough to be leveraged off by the private sector, and can significantly benefit those areas that are currently poorly served with broadband connectivity,” she concluded.