Free ‘TshWiFi’ service offline due to vandalism

Several Tshwane free wi-fi service sites were offline this week due of vandalism, the metro said.

On Tuesday, Tshwane wi-fi – popularly known as ‘TshWiFi’– was offline due to vandalism of their electronic equipment at the metro’s Babelegi high site, reports Pretoria North Rekord.

Sites that were affected included the University of Pretoria, Hammanskraal sport centre, Steve Biko Library and Secondary School.

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“Theft and vandalism of the metro’s infrastructure in places like Mamelodi, Soshanguve and other areas have been an issue,” said metro spokesperson Goitsemang Molaeng.

Molaeng said that while the metro initially anticipated these high sites and hotspots would be live by now, “our progress was stymied by a number of factors beyond our control”.

She said some of the problems were encountered due to non-connectivity at stations such as the Wapadrand substation which has burnt down.

“Vandalism of our infrastructure is a recurring nightmare which affects a myriad of services such as power and water supply, and now provision of WiFi service.”

Since the appointment of a new service provider, which managed the WiFi since August 2018, more than 600 sites out of a total of 1051 sites are up and running.

“This translates to more than 58 percent of the sites where the WiFi service has been restored.”

Molaeng said a Tshwane team was currently busy restoring the high sites.

“We are gradually expecting more sites to be live as we ramp up the restoration process.”

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