In a first for the area, free wi-fi has been implemented at the Sea Point Pavilion food court – just in time for the festive season.
This is the result of a pilot project between Sea Point-based company RSAWEB and the Friends of the Sea Point Pavilion.
According to the company’s CEO, Mark Slingsby, they decided to get involved in the project to give something back to the community. He added that if the pilot project was successful, they would be looking at implementing it in other parts of the city.
“This project gives tourists the chance to advertise our beautiful city on their social media and, more importantly, it gives any person high-quality internet,” said Mr Slingsby.
He said that high data costs meant that a lot of people had limited or no access to the internet and that the initiative would not only benefit residents and visitors to the area, but also food vendors as it would result in an increase in foot traffic.
He said that the pilot project, which has been up and running in the food court area for a few weeks, had received positive feedback so far.
The Friends of Sea Point Pavilion, agreed, saying that the free wi-fi gave people yet another reason to visit the area. “The wi-fi also gives us a way to help support our food vendors already on the forecourt,” the organisation said.
Ward 54 councillor Shayne Ramsay added: “This welcome initiative to provide internet access to the pavilion is an excellent idea, and will make the area more useful to regulars and visitors.
“Often tourists are on expensive roaming plans and don’t have ready access to wi-fi. This project gives them a chance to get online, and so show off the beauty of the area to their social network.”
Mr Slingsby added that the free wi-fi gave visitors up to one hour of free uncapped internet a day at “fibre internet speeds” and that up to 50 devices could be connected at a time.
