Taxi users in South Africa can now benefit from free in-vehicle Wi-Fi connections, thanks to a novel branding initiative from 8ta launched today.
The mobile operator – which is a unit of Telkom –has installed Wi-Fi connectivity in a 150-strong fleet of 8ta branded cars across Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, the company announced in a press statement.
The fleet of 150 Wi-Fi taxis operating across South Africa’s major cities comprises 100 cars in Johannesburg, 30 in Cape Town and 20 in Durban. The company hopes to double this figure by the end of the year, with a target of providing 150 Wi-Fi enabled cars in Johannesburg, 100 in Cape Town and 100 in Durban.
The free Wi-Fi hotspots are housed in Nissan Lavina taxis, each car sporting a Huawei E5331 router which connects to 8ta’s 3G mobile broadband network. A maximum of eight mobile devices can be connected to the Wi-Fi network within one taxi at any given time.
The network is compatible with all Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices – including smartphones, laptops and tablets – and the network across the whole branded taxi fleet bears the same name: “8ta Wi-Fi Hotspot”. In order to connect, passengers should check their device settings to enable Wi-Fi and select the 8ta network.
Having connected to the network once, users’ devices will immediately reconnect on entering another 8ta vehicle.
8ta senior managing executive AmithMaharaj explained that 8ta hopes the initiative will draw in new customers.
“8ta is really focused on a data-centric strategy,” he told Tech Central. “This adds to that strategy and gives consumers an opportunity to test it without committing. If they like what they experience, maybe they’ll go out and buy the service.”
The cars – decorated in 8ta’s trademark pink and black colours – also advertise the company’s current 60GB + 60 GB prepaid data offer, and display that they are Wi-Fi enabled.
