Approved by Telecom Infrastructure Project
Network service ThinkWiFi, funded through data harvesting, has formed a pact with Microsoft-backed ISP Mawingu to launch an OpenWiFi network in an undisclosed location in Kenya. The collaboration is funded by advertising using data harvested on each person and this is the first such network approved by the Telecom Infrastructure Project, TIP.
Privacy advocates might argue that when the main mission is to empower people, by giving them access to the internet, the funding model is a secondary consideration to the social upliftment that comes with giving everyone access to enterprise-grade Wi-Fi. “We are a purpose-based business working to close the digital divide,” said Janine Rebelo, Founder and CEO of ThinkWiFi (TW). The location of the digital-divide-closing debut outdoor Wi-FI service was not given.
TW worked with Mawingu and TIP OpenWiFi to build an enterprise grade system that’s easy to use. Smoothing that path with adverts was described as the ‘win-win-win’ option where ‘brands can also win by gaining access to high growth consumer segments’, they said. The system is managed from TW’s South Africa office. The outdoor Wi-Fi uses TIP OpenWiFi-certified hardware and software including access points (APs) from Edgecore and CIG. Wavespot provides the cloud controller and the backend analytics. It’s the user analytics of location-based services that provide the engine for the automated advertising. They track people’s movements and cross reference data with other sources to send them adverts based on their income and buying preferences that have been compiled by other shopping sites. Wavespot’s AICloud allows TW to draw conclusions about its customers and hit them with appropriate adverts. Needs must, but do people still get access to the ThinkWiFI if they decline to surrender details about their personal lives and have their every movement trcked?
The Wi-Fi network sits on top of Mawingu’s network infrastructure. It’s the first of a big rollout that include additional city centres, transit and tourist hubs and retail malls in Kenya and South Africa. There are future plans to expand into other African countries and southern European regions. The ThinkWiFi OpenWiFi network deployments are expected to cover a number of public service and health facilities through collaborators and public sector organisations.
TIP OpenWiFi is an open source-based Wi-Fi architecture that is open to multiple vendors as long as they commit to interoperable Wi-Fi standards. OpenWiFi-based systems allow ThinkWiFi to mix and match access points and controllers from any TIP OpenWiFi compliant manufacturer and developer. “TIP OpenWiFi is the most innovative connectivity on the market today,” said Jack Raynor, TIP OpenWiFi Programme Group Co-chair, “it’s open, with multiple vendors supplying hardware, so it can be scaled to provide superb speeds without vendor lock-in.”
Funding the network through advertising makes community connectivity widely available. However, if access to the network is not free to those who prefer not to be kept under surveillance, is this still a free network? The priority of “gaining access to high growth consumer segments” seems at odds with a company that’s looking to close the digital divide. Are those on the wrong side of the digital divide the sort of people that FMCG brands are interested in? Are people using free internet really the source for ‘high growth consumer segments’? However the consumers, TW said, gain by getting free, uncapped, high speed connectivity and the community wins by getting unfettered access to the digital economy. Hopefully, the vendors will give us a location for this philanthropic work.