Technology group Liquid Intelligent Technologies, and South Africa’s Western Cape Government have announced at the Africa Tech Festival 2024 in Cape Town that they have renewed a partnership to continue expanding connectivity in the province.
This time the partners plan an investment of over ZAR2 billion (US$110.2 million) over the next seven years as Liquid South Africa continues to increase access to high-speed connectivity to the populace by adding more free public Wi-Fi hotspots.
In the past ten years the partnership with Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa and the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) has delivered enhanced connectivity in Western Cape Government (WCG) corporate buildings, schools, hospitals and clinics, while e-centres and rural libraries provide access to information technology and employment opportunities for all residents.
According to the 2023 General Household Survey by StatsSA, at 88.1%, the Western Cape already has the highest internet access rate in the country. This partnership aims to extend the advantages realised through access to high-speed connectivity.
Deon Geyser, CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa, explains: “Since the onset of our partnership, Liquid South Africa has established 1,600 free public Wi-Fi hotspots and more than 2,000 sites which include schools, hospitals, clinics and librariesused by almost four million citizens in the province.” He adds: “We have increased data allocation and provided faster speeds, and through the deployment of SDWAN, we even improved the cybersecurity offering.”
The public Wi-Fi network, already available in over 26 municipalities, provides 6GB of data per device per month at 10 Mbps speeds of up to 20 Mbps. Government websites will also remain permanently free for users to access, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their location or resources, can benefit from this initiative.