
30 Sep 2014 Adding Wi-Fi to Coca-Cola vending machines
Web access can make a huge difference to education, healthcare and innovation within a community and both companies say they want to improve the opportunities available to local people.
The Wi-Fi will be free to access and no Coke purchase is required to take advantage of it. The first two sites chosen are close to schools, shopping centers and taxi ranks: Sasol Integrated Energy Centre, in Qunu, Eastern Cape, and at Thokozane Fast Food, in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga.
The scheme will start in two locations to begin with before rolling out further if it proves a success.
“We believe that by giving them access to free Wi-Fi we will enable students and school children in the area to increase their knowledge through research while also giving entrepreneurs and small business owners in the community the opportunity to manage some of their business aspects online,” said David Visser, the Chief Information Officer of Coca-Cola South Africa.
Oliver Fortuin, the MD of BT Global Services in sub-Saharan Africa, chimed in as well: “We are delighted to… be involved in a project that will give under-served communities much improved access to information and education opportunities… As well as providing access, we want to help people use technology to apply their creativity and harness the possibilities of today’s connected world.”