RSA Hotspot revenues

[bundy]

Seasons greetings! I am looking for info on actual revenues at hotspots in South Africa. I have built a business case for Wi-fi hotspots but need to get some concrete data from hotspots in this country. All the info that I can find is US or UK based, not very applicable to our wireless environment. Any usage (per MB) info or actual revenue info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[mancombseepgood]

All I can say is

that the ACSA and other MWEB/IS hotspots charge R90 per hour - they are distributed at city lodges, airport, etc. How much they make from this is questionable... I would rather have free access at a hotel if you are a resident - get a user name/password when you check in. Surely they can build some cost for internet into the daily rate.

 

[brucel]

try News Cafe in Midrand they are free.

 

[Roman4604]

I believe almost all hotspot revenue in SA is indirect ...

hotel occupancy
coffee shop/restaurant bums on seats
ISP value add differentiation
Municipality business activity/rate payers

I suppose the business model would be to install & run hotspots/wireless nets and rent the service to those above that will derive the (indirect) business benefit.

Can't see anyone making money by offering these services to the end user without having another primary revenue stream.

 

[bundy]

Wi-Fi is definitely not as ubiquitous in SA as it is overseas but the possibilities are exciting. What if you could incentivise people to share out there Internet connection wirelessly and charge fairly. Instead of large mobile carriers supplying an expensive mobile infrastructure and charging accordingly, end users could connect to thousands of Wi-fi hotspots. You could become an ISP for your neighbourhood!

 

[Roman4604]

Instead of large mobile carriers supplying an expensive mobile infrastructure and charging accordingly, end users could connect to thousands of Wi-fi hotspots. You could become an ISP for your neighbourhood!

There are several problems with the model above ...

Spectrum - there are only 13 channels in 2.4GHz WiFi and if there isn't complete communciation between all parties, interference & service degredation is inevitable.

Service levels & accountibility - if you urgently need to get work done at 3 in the morning and you neighbours router has locked up and they happen to be on the jol at that time, you're screwed.

Bandwidth economies of scale - large ISPs (not resellers) can offer bw price discounts cause they aggregate large amounts of bw. If everyone is to get access from many, many small pipes there is no bw scale efficiency & therefore no room to discount.

I believe your model can work in small enthusiast communities but doubt it can work in the mainstream.

 

[bundy]

You raise some very valid points Roman4604. I dont have too much technical knowledge of WiFi but the spectrum issue does seem to be a widespread concern.

Service levels and accountability are also decentralised in a model that I am proposing. But, I think it becomes more of an issue when thinking in terms of contracts and monthly subscription fees. What about just being able to pay for usage? If the hotspot goes down, you don't lose out. You just have to access another hotspot. If someone setup a hotspot in my area with usage access and fair pricing I would pay for usage access rather than wait 3 months for a Telkom installation or pay some WISP a small fortune for installation. OR, with a 30G/byte cap and per/MB pricing I could set something up and sell on to my neighbours. If I even manage to recoup some of my costs I score and the end user scores with cheaper Internet. Bring on Wi-Fi phones...

I think this brings us back to your last point of this model being able to work in small enthusiatic communities. Creating a mainstream solution would be the challenge. Anybody got enthusiasm for cheaper Internet and "Open source Internet"?. I sure do!

 

[bundy]

Btw... check out www.speakeasy.com. They have a Wi-fi sharing plan for their clients. Forward thinking.

 

[mancombseepgood]

Possibly, but it still doesn't add up...

I believe almost all hotspot revenue in SA is indirect ...

hotel occupancy
coffee shop/restaurant bums on seats
ISP value add differentiation
Municipality business activity/rate payers

I suppose the business model would be to install & run hotspots/wireless nets and rent the service to those above that will derive the (indirect) business benefit.

Can't see anyone making money by offering these services to the end user without having another primary revenue stream.

Wonder why one still has to pay R90 per hour to use the IS/Mweb hotspots. It's daft. Especially if you are already at the venue to use their services. Surely they can offer free airtime to residents with a 512k uncapped business IS package - or is this not allowed...
I would imagine that the indirect spinoffs could be great if they offer a free service. Some restaurants have offered free service I know, good move... with the word out, I bet they get clients they wouldn't otherwise get.

 

[bundy]

I am sure we wouldn't be having this fee or free debate if pricing was fair at hotspots. We pay for cellphone calls and smses and we pay for Internet at home. Why not pay for it on the move? Because prices are excessive. Howsabout R20 an hour... would you pay that?

 

[ernstn]

Everybody has access to 10 30 mute tzone minutes per month

Every Telkom ADSL subscriber(and all ADSL users are) have 10 free 30 minute session at a TZONE per month. I have posted this after I followed the procedure described at
http://www.telkom.co.za/attheoffice/products/dsl/business_what_is_dsl.html

My ISP even told me that it is not possible. Remember it is the telephone line that applies not the ISP!

 

[mancombseepgood]

Not all according to them

Access to T-Zone wireless hotspots
During the launch period of Telkom T-Zones, Telkom offers its DSL 512 access customers the opportunity to access the net from any Telkom T-Zone hotspot using their free sessions allocated to them, dependant on the TelkomDSL access they are subscribed to.

To use a T-Zone hotspot the 10 digit telephone number (dialing code and telephone number) on which the DSL access product is activated is the username. The account number (as printed on the Telkom Invoice) associated with the DSL service will be the default password. On 1st login the user will be routed to a credential page where the password and email address can be changed.

When a DSL user has used all the free sessions allocated to them they will have to buy credit as any other T-Zone user.

Both DSL 512 & 1024 customers receive 10 free sessions of up to 30 minutes each per month at any commercialised Telkom T-Zone Wireless hotspot, countrywide.

512 and 1024 only?

 

[ernstn]

Sorry, I did not see the 512 and 1024 qualification.

 

[SoTrue]

Does "10 sessions of 30 minutes each" mean that after 10 sessions of 1 minute each your free stuff are gone?

 

[technobyte]

Mcdonalds Rock 'n Roll Rivonia Road Sandton is FREE!!

Mcdonalds Rock 'n Roll Rivonia Road Sandton is absolutely free just go in and connect no charges !

 

[ernstn]

Does "10 sessions of 30 minutes each" mean that after 10 sessions of 1 minute each your free stuff are gone?

I have no idea. I would presume so! There is no place that I know of where I can check my usage. I just presumed that 1 minute with a break= 1 session so I always maxed out.