The mobile and internet-provider, Cell C, has partnered with Facebook to launch public access Wi-Fi hotspots at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
These hotspots will work on the Facebook Express Wi-Fi platform that has partnered with various mobile networks to roll out connectivity in rural areas. Although this isn’t the case with UWC, Cell C believes that this platform will help deliver affordable and fast internet to users. The two companies plan to roll out this infrastructure across the whole of South Africa in the near future.
“As an innovative business, Cell C is continuously looking for ways to bring affordable, super-fast Internet access to South Africans. This partnership with Facebook is an ideal way to ensure that we live up to that commitment,” says Douglas Craigie Stevenson, CEO of Cell C.
Rollout of the service will start in and around the City of Cape Town, and it will act as an easily-accessible public Wi-Fi network. Cape Town’s municipality still needs to approve the plans for the widespread rollout for it to continue as planned.
We don’t have any details about pricing for the service (or whether it’ll be free to use), nor do we have exact Wi-Fi hotspot locations yet, but this could be a strategic move to connect even more South Africans to the internet. We’ll bring you more info in when have it.
