Joburg to become a WIRELESS ADSL HOTSPOT – YAY!
Just when we were about to ask how come Joburg CIty is not a WIFI hotspot we hear that it may be on the books… You have to love this city and it’s passionate leaders, pushing it ahead and keeping it up to date with worldwide technology.
“What’s a WIFI hotspot?” you may ask… In our words – it’s an area where internet access is offered to those with wireless enabled computers…
and other techie machines. The area is called a “HOTSPOT“. There are already cities around the world that offer this service for free to their citizens – At the moment you can have FREE WIFI access at most NEWSCAFE’s in South Africa and at the airport. So you take your laptop there for a meeting and you can surf the net or download your emails without being fixed to your desktop. Now it looks like the whole of Joburg may become a HOTSPOT if the Techies have their way. We love that. THe only thing that isn’t clear is if this will be a free initiative or will one have to subscribe???It’s not clear… can anyone enlighten us?
You can refer to the brilliant source WIKIPEDIA (the peoples free encyclopedia) for the correct definitions and more detail on WIFI.
Here’s the scoop courtesy of MYADSL:
The City of Johannesburg’s Economic Development Unit in conjunction with BMI TechKnowledge Group held a series of workshops last week to discuss a broadband strategy for Johannesburg.
Role players from all interested fields including MyADSL, Johannesburg Area Wireless Users Group (JAWUG), Telkom, the SNO, Vodacom, various ISP’s and others were invited to provide input regarding the development of Johannesburg as a broadband enabled “Smart City”.
Johannesburg is a hub of economic activity in South Africa with 74% of all corporate head offices, 59% of I.T. enterprises and a large majority of accounting; legal and media firms based in the City. The City of Joburg’s contribution to the national economy is almost 16%.
The City’s Economic Development Unit has had the great foresight to acknowledge the need for a comprehensive and sustainable broadband initiative for Joburg in order to further stimulate economic growth.
Whilst this project is still in the discussion phase the aim of these workshops was to pool together ideas and views in order to develop a sustainable broadband initiative for the City of Johannesburg to implement before 2010 and to continue towards their 2030 Vision.
Roelf Diedericks, a representative from JAWUG, raised concerns regarding legislation and regulations on WiFi. He addressed many valuable issues turning the spotlight on developing a competitive internet access environment.
An interesting development on the international front is the proposed legislation by two U.S. senators to prevent states from outlawing city-run broadband services.
The Community Broadband Act of 2005, introduced by Senators John McCain, an Arizonian Republican, and Frank Lautenberg, a New jersey Democrat, aims to prevent states from outlawing municipal broadband services while requiring the cities to regulate their own services the same as they regulate competitors.
Private investment in the Internet should be protected but McCain added that, “When private industry does not answer the call because of market failures or other obstacles, it is appropriate and even commendable, for the people acting through their local governments to improve their lives by investing in their own future.”
The City of Joburg faces similar challenges balancing private investment with optimal economic growth of the City.
From the workshops it becomes evident that the way forward is by no means a smooth and easy ride but the drive and focus of the City of Johannesburg to develop an economically sustainable broadband initiative is encouraging.
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