MWEB launches free WiFi in Durban

·18 Jun 2014

Internet service provider (ISP), MWEB, has launched a free Wi-Fi ‘zone’ in Florida Road, Durban, its first Wi-Fi activated high street.

The group said that the Wi-Fi zone solution covers 90% of the area, featuring multiple access points, meshed together in a single indoor or outdoor environment with more resilient infrastructure and powerful backhaul.

The service is free for the first few months. However, MWEB said it will be implementing a pricing policy which will be time based, rather than data based. It said that the first 30 minutes will be free for users, once the new prices are in place.

“Florida Road is a great place to demonstrate the possibilities that high-speed Wi-Fi enables,” said Nathier Kasu, GM at MWEB Wi-Fi. “We’ve created a Wi-Fi zone, rather than a Wi-Fi hotspot, to deliver a superior experience to users, wherever they may be on the high street.”

As part of the broader Naspers Group, he added that the MWEB Wi-Fi zones set to spring up around the country will be perfectly suited to carrying broadcast content such as video-on-demand and mobile TV.

LinkAfrica provided high-speed fibre links to create connectivity solutions in key streets that have a high concentration of hospitality and entertainment activity such as Helen Joseph Road (formally Davenport Road) Problem Mkhize Road (formally Cowey Road), Florida Road and Chartwell Drive to name a few.

Other properties include selected hotels and hospitals across Ethekwini, MWEB said.

Over the coming months, Kasu said that consumers will start benefiting from a broadening network of Wi-Fi zones at strategic hubs around South Africa – from airports, to shopping malls to popular social venues.