Our partner Isizwe is working to create a sustainable community internet network in Mpophemeni South Africa. Read how they are doing this in this blog post.
Equitable access to connectivity for everyone means that each community should have a connectivity solution that fits their specific needs and circumstances. At 48percent.org, we believe that facilitating connectivity is more than providing the necessary equipment and a physical connection to the internet. When we heard about the plans that Isizwe had to build a community network in Mpophomeni, South Africa, we felt drawn to the project and wanted to work with them.
To make a community network in Mpophomeni a reality, 48percent.org and Isizwe partnered up on this three year project. In June 2021, Isizwe started deploying the first of 20 WiFi hotspots throughout the community. Each of these spots will be maintained and monitored by a Reseller, who is able to offer affordable internet to the people surrounding their WiFi hotspot. By making the WiFi affordable but not free, it creates a network that has the potential to be self-sustaining and a contribution to the economy of the community. To give an idea what is happening right now in the project, we asked our partners at Isizwe to answer a few questions about the project.
Isizwe Express WiFi in Mpophomeni is a project designed to deliver affordable, reliable, and unlimited internet connectivity to the community, enabling access for citizens while creating a viable and sustainable business model for Isizwe. The 20 Isizwe Express WiFi hotspots that the project will deploy into Mpophomeni will provide a coverage network where paying customers can access unlimited, reliable internet. At the R5 (€0.29) a day for unlimited internet access price point, the connectivity is affordable for the community members. Sites are selected on the basis of both technical and economic feasibility. To be economically viable, a site must have the potential to sell a minimum of R1610 (€0.29) worth of data packs in a 30 day cycle. This is 11 R5 (€0.29) data packs a day. Once this target is met, each site achieves its goal: the sustainable provision of affordable, unlimited WiFi to citizens in Mpophomeni.
In 2020 Mpophomeni was the chosen location of one Isizwe Express WiFi hotspot in collaboration with the One Life Church located in the heart of the community. This initial pilot site envisioned bringing affordable access to the beneficiaries of the church run programmes. As this project gained momentum and we started to see success at the site, Isizwe realised that the partnership we were developing with the team based at One Life Church had the markings of greater potential, were we able to expand the network. Mpophomeni is a community ripe and ready for the changes and developments that affordable WiFi offers to its members. People understand the value of being connected; the price point is right for the internet service that they want. This context made Mpophomeni an ideal location for expansion, and was the natural choice for the 48percent.org project.
To date, we have had 3 big learnings on the Mpophomeni Isizwe Express WiFi project:
As a result of the existing and developing relationship with the One Life Church team, Isizwe has been incredibly fortunate to have additional capacity on the ground to work alongside local community members to plan and execute the project. In the planning stage, this is particularly valuable as the selection of sites is key in enabling economic sustainability over time. Having people who know where the demand for WiFi is, who know where people will buy and use it, and who know key entrepreneurial individuals who can drive sites to achieve their commercial targets makes a huge difference. From an execution and maintenance perspective, the local community will always have high levels of involvement on the level one support and sales side of things. Part of what the project aims to achieve is the development of technical capacity within the Mpophomeni community. In terms of the highly technical deployment and maintenance aspects, the project has provided the opportunity for the training and professional development of Aaron Khumalo, a young tech-savvy KwaZulu-Natal local from nearby Lamontville, who is being upskilled to install and support the network. This is a local talent development opportunity that will ensure skills as built and developed in the region.
Over the coming months Isizwe and the project team in Mpophomeni will be hard at work building the access points into a structural and sustainable part of the infrastructure within the community. For updates on the project keep an eye for upcoming posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. If you would like to know more about this project or are interested in collaborating with 48percent.org, we would love to hear from you!