Gauteng getting more free Wi-Fi hotspots

The Gauteng Department of e-Government has announced that it will launch 30 more free Wi-Fi hotspot sites in the province on Thursday, 5 December 2024.

In a statement, the e-Government department noted that its Wi-Fi project launched in 2014 and has connected more than 1,200 sites across the province.

“It is anticipated that by the end of the financial year 2024/25, a total of 353 sites will be provided with Wide Area Network (WAN) and 250 sites will be turned into Wi-Fi hotspots,” it said.

The department is hosting a media tour in Deveyton on Thursday, 5 December, to unveil and activate 30 new sites in the province as part of its mandate to provide Internet connectivity across Gauteng.

“As a result, the department will be unveiling 30 more new sites connected to the Gauteng Provincial Network under phase 3 of the project, which commenced in the financial year 2023/24,” it said.

“The connected sites include schools, libraries, hospitals, clinics, and community centres.”

The provincial government initiated the Gauteng Broadband Network project through a tender invitation in January 2013.

The tender invitation sought the conceptualisation, construction, and maintenance of a broadband network comprising 1,600km of high-speed fibre optics.

The initiative aimed to:

• Provide network coverage to 95% of the province’s population;
• Acquire and use ICTs in a manner that leverages economies of scale; and,
• Provide cost-effective services and ensure that information systems are interoperable between government institutions.

The provincial government said the system would enhance service delivery, eliminate unnecessary ICT duplication, and facilitate the security of information systems.

“The long wait for delivering affordable broadband access to Gauteng residents will soon be over,” it said.

It awarded the tender to Altech Alcom Matomo in February 2014.

Altech Alcom Matomo’s R1.2-billion rollout hit a milestone in August 2015, with broadband fibre connectivity reaching eight core nodes.

These included:

• Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital
• 75 Fox Street
• 82 Grayston Drive
• Steve Biko Academic Hospital
• Imbuba House
• Teraco
• Telkom Data Centre
• Sedibeng District Municipal head office

At the time, the network comprised 4,500km of transmission fibre and 80km of last-mile fibre network, spanning Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Sedibeng, and the West Rand.

The Gauteng Provincial Government noted that the eight core nodes allowed government buildings and community centres to connect to the network.

The 10Gbps network will also bring high-speed fibre to provincial buildings and schools. Altech Alcom Matomo aimed to connect 263 sites across the province, including all provincial department buildings and several townships, by the end of 2015.

It also planned to connect 24 community centres, including centres in Soweto, Tembisa, Alexandra, Diepsloot, Kagiso, Vosloorus, Sebokeng, Mamelodi, and Hammanskraal, as well as 100 schools.

In February 2024, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced that the provincial government had invested R2.7 billion in the Department of Infrastructure Development to provide reliable broadband and 5G connectivity to businesses in the province.

“We are proud that the government that I have the honour to lead [has] just invested R2.7 billion in the Gauteng Infrastructure Development so that we can have reliable broadband and 5G for companies to connect with their clients easily in our province,” said Lesufi.

He said the investment will ultimately mean that more schools, public institutions, and small businesses in the province can connect to the network, eliminating the struggle for connectivity.

“We want to thank MTN and the institutions that are partnering with us,” he added.

“If you don’t know, the new economy is data. The new economy is Wi-Fi, and we are proud to as a province that we are leading on that particular front.”