What does the roll out of wireless internet in public transport mean?

Last year, the Ministry of Youth and ICT (MYICT), in conjunction with Kigali City public transport operators and Olleh Rwanda Networks, rolled out an initiative to provide wireless internet in public transport. The initiative, which began at the end of February, started with its trial phase with the intention of rolling it out countrywide. The initiative was hoped to scale up broadband adoption in the country, and the continuation of Smart Kigali Initiative. It was also believed that, in the long run, the objective of the initiative was to introduce the general public to internet use and act as a value added service for commuters using public transport. Today, buses that currently have wireless belong to Kigali Bus Services, Royal Express and Rwanda Federation of Transport Cooperative (RFTC). Nevertheless, as the time goes on, this internet is creating mixed reactions among bus operators and passengers, with some saying that the wireless internet isn’t contributing much to what it was expected to do. Some noted that it came in handy as a value added service. Emmanuel Rugira, a business man, said the continued roll-out of the internet was helpful. “Though I don’t normally use 4G, I can’t say it doesn’t have any contribution. I think it presents a chance to regular people to always access their emails for instance at anytime they are travelling. For me, I can say the Wi-Fi is very helpful. Thanks for the good work by the government and the partners towards our people,” he said. “I don’t really see the need for this internet; how can you rely on something which you won’t use for 15-20 minutes. This is not a good choice of investment; maybe the government can do more than this, like introducing it to public spaces rather than in buses,” said another passenger. Meanwhile, some drivers say, such internet attracts people in one way or another. Regis Uwizeye, a driver of Kigali Bus Services (KBS), notes that the internet wireless contributes to their service in one way or another. “I believe it’s too early to say that this initiative isn’t doing anything; this is a new initiative, people have not yet understood, but as time passes, people understand. This is an added value service to our side; maybe many people will not use the wireless internet, but some will love to be connected any time. Since, the government has not rolled out the free internet in every place, but at least many business firms, hotels and other places have been connected that someone will barely be disconnected when he gets out of the bus,” he explained. Another driver, Djamal of RFTC, said that the free wireless has not done anything. “To be honest, this internet has nothing it contributes to our services. People are not using it and we are just paying money at the end of the month, for something that was not put to use. People have the understanding of saying that they can’t depend on something for 20 minutes and then get disconnected for the next few hours,” he exclaimed. The installation of 4G long Term Evolution-LTE internet in public buses around the city of Kigali, was part of Smart Kigali initiative that was launched in 2013 with the aim of providing free wireless in buses and taxi cabs, Airports , hotels and restaurants and other public places as well as improving internet connectivity and access. According to Charles Ngarambe, KBS Executive Director, the initiative came to help people not to be disconnected. “This internet is not for businesses, which people need to leave their homes to access; people need to change that perspective, and understand that these busses are not work places where they spend the whole day. It was not meant for people spending an hour on the bus. The main aim was to help people keep connected; people should be able to browse for some quick information, reply to emails, and others,” he noted. The government is, however, optimistic that the rollout of the fastest internet speeding up national development goals through fast-tracking ICT based services as well as creating jobs and easing service delivery. Fortunately, we’ve learnt that the initiative was in its trial phase but with intention of rolling it out countrywide. “We’ve been in testing phase all this time; we’ve been collecting data from all over different sources, trying to understand patterns, and figuring out the amount of bandwidths that will be used per bus, among other things, in order to significantly make the implementation possible. We are officially launching the initiative next week and we really hope all peoples’ suggestions, complaints and questions will be answered. And the proper education campaigns will start right away,” explained Didier Nkurikiyimfura, the Director General Ministry of Youth and ICT. Also, under the smart Kigali initiative, the government plans to establish online automated navigation system for direction using the newly implemented street and home address information system, Introducing automated ticketing and taxi meters in public transport as well as electronic payments systems to improve financial services.

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What does the roll out of wireless internet in public transport mean?