This Western Cape initiative was announced by Department of Economic Development and Tourism's Minister Alan Winde on 18 March. The Minister proclaimed it to be a pilot initiative and part of the province's R1,3-billion plan to eventually connect all residents in the province to broadband.
In George and the Garden Route the roll-out is orchestrated by Digital Village Communication - a non-profit organisation (NPO), backed by Cloud Connect. The George Herald spoke to two directors - Imel Rautenbach and Justin Miles - about the technical aspects and found them to be upbeat about the fact that remote areas of the Garden Route will now be connected for the first time ever - including Ruiterbosch and Touwsranten. They foresee that one hotspot per month will be rolled out. This will entail the erection of one 8m tower per hotspot in areas where there is a cellphone signal of either Vodacom or MTN.
Economic growth
"We believe that WiFi connectivity can act like a catalyst for economic acceleration. For instance, grassroots entrepreneurs can start up business for selling up data bundles at informal shops. The first hotspot in Conville is already live. A municipal portal is being planned, which will mean that people can have immediate access to the municipal services website and be able to report service issues directly."
Miles, who is the pioneer IT specialist introducing wireless internet services in the George/Garden Route area, said, "A whole new world will open up for many people. Like, for instance, applying for a job. They can now upload their CV and instantly send off a job application to many would-be employers."
Rautenbach, who championed the wireless canopy network for George, was gratified when his proposal was selected in November last year and is now one of four NPOs chosen to be part of Province's pilot project roll-out. This came about as a direct result of a George Municipality Local Economic Development (LED) incubator think-thank, in which workable plans for job creation were identified.
School connectivity
Rautenbach said he is hoping that enough pressure has been applied on CapeNature to approve the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for erecting a satellite tower near De Rust, so that the rural school Vlakteplaas, run by his film producer father Jans Rautenbach, can at last be connected to Glenwood House's maths lessons via satellite. The school has been awaiting approval for three years.
Free benefits
One of the tasks that await Digital Village Communication is to inform communities of the direct benefits of the free service and the fact that people with Smartphones can use them to get free connection.
- WiFi hotspots are to be erected in the following spots in the George area: George CBD; George Museum; George Transport Museum; Garden Route Botanical Garden; CBD taxi rank/bus terminus; Garden Route Mall; Thembalethu; Borchards; Pacaltsdorp; Rosemoor; Wilderness Beach (NSRI station); Wilderness CBD; Touwsranten and Kleinkrantz..
- Sedgefield: Sedgefield CBD and Smutsville.
- Knysna: Knysna CBD; Knysna Waterfront; Concordia; Hornlee and Rheenendal.
- Mossel Bay: The Point; D'Almeida; Kwanonqaba 1 and Kwanonqaba 2.
- Great Brak River: Friemersheim; Ruitersbos and Wolwedans (see the map for the tower positions).
This map shows where the 8m WiFi towers are to be installed in the coming months. Once erected, communities in the immediate vicinity (up to 1sq km radius) will get free connection (up to 150MB per day) to the internet via their cellphones (Smartphones) and laptop. The public will be kept informed on how to get their free connectivity.
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