Telkom, in partnership with the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), is set to launch free Wi-Fi connections at taxi ranks and in mini bus taxis around the country.<\/p>\n
This is according to Santaco CEO, Nkululeko Buthelezi, who told Talk Radio 702 <\/a>that the project is part of an improvement in the group\u2019s taxi service.<\/p>\n It is believed that the service will be for a limited period, and will launch as soon as Thursday (12 June).<\/p>\n Buthelezi said that the taxi organisation would allow various partners and stakeholders to advertise using this particular platform, in order to pay for the service.<\/p>\n \u201cI can assure you it won\u2019t cost the commuter an extra cent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe it will contribute to the growth of the country in general,\u201d Buthelezi said, noting that commuters would be able to access Wi-Fi at taxi ranks in order to look for jobs and socialise with their friends online.<\/p>\n The taxi boss said that phase one of the roll-out would see 1,500 taxis and the top 10 major taxi ranks in Gauteng getting connected, which would then move to the other provinces.<\/p>\n He pointed out that the taxi fleet is a \u201cstrong 250,000\u201d meaning that the process could take some time to complete. “We may not be everywhere,” he said.<\/p>\n He said that Santaco, in conjunction with Telkom, aimed to roll-out between 4,000-5,000 Wi-Fi equipped taxis each month.<\/p>\n Buthelezi said that taxis were responsible for 15 million commuters on a daily basis. “We want to attract even private vehicle users to come back to using taxis,” Buthelezi said.<\/p>\n WiFi on South African train carriages<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore on WiFi on SA<\/h3>\n