ThinkWiFi, Mawingu to connect Kenya's underserved

An Africa-based ad-tech free Wi-Fi service provider, ThinkWiFi, and an Internet service provider backed by Microsoft, Mawingu, have launched the first outdoor Telecom Infra Project (TIP) OpenWiFi network in Kenya.

The collaboration is funded using an advertising-based model, the first time a TIP OpenWiFi network has been built and commercialized using a sponsorship platform.

According to its website, the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) is a global community of companies and organizations working together to accelerate the development and deployment of open, disaggregated and standards-based technology solutions that deliver the high-quality connectivity that the world needs.

"Brands win by gaining access to high growth consumer segments, consumers win with free, uncapped, high-speed connectivity, and the community wins by getting unfettered access to the digital economy through free Wi-Fi networks powered by advertising revenue," explained ThinkWiFi Founder and CEO Janine Rebelo.

Mawingu hopes the free Internet project will help bridge the digital divide in Kenya. (Source:Freepik)

The Wi-Fi network uses TIP OpenWiFi-certified hardware and software including access points (APs) from Edgecore and CIG and it is managed from ThinkWiFi's headquarters in South Africa.

Moreover, Wavespot provides the cloud controller which also implements the backend analytics and location-based services through its AI Cloud, allowing ThinkWiFi to gain valuable customer experience insights. The Wi-Fi network is built on top of Mawingu's network infrastructure.

Bridging Kenya's digital divide

TIP OpenWiFi Program Group Co-chair, Jack Raynor, said the company is an open source-based Wi-Fi architecture that enables multivendor, interoperable Wi-Fi networks.

"OpenWiFi is beneficial to the communities that we serve and that's why we've seen it scale so rapidly around the world," Raynor continued.

"Mawingu's aim is to help our customers access new opportunities for work, education, entertainment and social connections, through the power of the Internet," continued Mawungu CEO Farouk Ramji.

Ramji added that through the collaboration with ThinkWiFi and OpenWiFi, the companies can provide free Internet bringing them closer to bridging the digital divide in Kenya.

According to the companies, the ThinkWiFi and OpenWiFi network is the first part of a larger rollout that will include additional city centers, transit and tourist hubs and retail malls in Kenya and South Africa.

The companies said that they aspire to expand into other African countries and the southern European region.

"The ThinkWiFi and OpenWiFi network deployments are expected to cover a number of public service and healthcare facilities through collaboration and partnership with public organizations."

Kenya's Internet penetration

The agreement is also in line with the World Bank Group approving a US$390 million finance deal toward the first phase of the Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Project.

It is also coming after the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) and the ICT Authority (ICTA) signed an agreement for fiber deployment in 19 Kenyan counties in April 2023.

The project comes at a time when Kenya's operators are extending coverage, including Safaricom, which increased its 5G network to 28 towns across 21 counties also in April 2023.

Moreover, ThinkWiFi and Mawingu could also assist in improving the country's Internet penetration levels.

According to statistics from Datareportal, there were 17.86 million Internet users in Kenya at the start of 2023 and Internet penetration stood at 32.7%.

As per Datareportal, Kenya was home to 10.55 million social media users in January 2023, equating to 19.3% of the total population.

*Top image source: Image by Image by wirestock on Freepik.

— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa