UPDATE: 24 June 2014, 12:45pm –Recently our Editor in Chief Megan McLean came under fire from Kaya FM for her column about Free Wi-Fi in taxis not benefiting the masses.
Kaya FM feel that the majority of commuters do have Wi-Fi enabled smartphones and will benefit greatly from the initiative.
But let’s take a look at the facts according to internet matters:
- There is currently a smartphone explosion taking place in the country and cellphone networks report 63million active accounts, making for cellular penetration of 126 percent; a consequence of widespread use of dual-SIM cards. World Wide Worx research shows true individual penetration to be about 80 percent, with 40million South Africans using phones.
- Around 10 million phones are sold in South Africa every year and it is estimated that smartphones account for around half of this number.
- A report released at the end of May by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) estimates that 20 million South Africans own smartphones which is an increase of 32 percent from last year, but warn that in 2014 we can expect only a 27 percent growth rate.
- By the end of 2014 we can expect around 25 million South Africans to own smartphones – which is about 48 percent of our population.
So although around 52 percent of South Africa won’t benefit from the scheme, what should really be up for debate is the amount of data allocated to these taxis.
In an article posted on mybroadband.co.za Vodacom provides a per-platform breakdown of average data usage for November 2011:
– iOS: 219MB/month
– BlackBerry: 169MB/month
– Android: 153MB/month
With a reported 15 million taxi commuters daily, will the 200MB of data allocated to each taxi be enough to even service those with smartphones?
Scroll down to listen to the accusations made by Kaya FM.
Initial report: 24 June 2014, 10:30am Radio station Kaya FM has accused the editor of the Rosebank Killarney Gazette, Megan McLean, of being uninformed in suggesting that only the minority would benefit from Wi-Fi in taxis.
This after the radio station asked listeners to share their thoughts on her column, “What’s free Wi-Fi with no connection?” published in the week ending 20 June.
The station also posted on their Facebok page:
Last week Santaco announced that they will be introducing Wi-Fi in all taxis. The editor of the Rosebank Killarney Gazette is questioning whether the “people who need the service are really going to be getting it?” She is concerned with the fact that the masses may not have access to smartphones which are normally owned by the elite. Business Tech states that smartphone usage is on the rise in the country with an estimated 20 million users, compared with the 52.98 million population of South Africa. Do you think she has a point? Or maybe she just doesn’t know the market? Share your thoughts.
However, many appeared to have interpreted the article as being racist and fired back at the editor saying that she does not know what she is talking about.
McLean responded, “The column does not mention race or whether the people in question are employed or not. The facts remain, not everyone has a smartphone, and while I agree there are many taxi commuters who do use smartphones and are connected – the masses are not.
“The column mentions that according to a report, there are 20 million people in the country who have smartphones. That’s not even 50 percent of the population – so yes, those who are connected are the elite few. When you think of the millions of South African’s who use taxis on a daily basis, you cannot assume they all have smartphones.
“The presenters of the show question if I know the market…? I put the question back to them – do they really know the market? Just because they have seen someone in a taxi with a smartphone, does not mean all, or the majority of taxi commuters have them – that is stereotyping at best. Maybe those without smartphones need to come tell us what they think… wait, sorry, they can’t access the free Wi-Fi so probably don’t know this debate is taking place.”
Do you think the editor was being racist?’
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