Telecommunications

Coke machines to serve as Wi-Fi hotspots in South Africa

Coke machines to serve as Wi-Fi hotspots in South Africa
Residents of Qunu and Bushbuckridge will soon be getting free Wi-Fi from Coca Cola coolers
Residents of Qunu and Bushbuckridge will soon be getting free Wi-Fi from Coca Cola coolers
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Residents of Qunu and Bushbuckridge will soon be getting free Wi-Fi from Coca Cola coolers
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Residents of Qunu and Bushbuckridge will soon be getting free Wi-Fi from Coca Cola coolers
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In this day and age, if a community is to prosper, it certainly helps if its residents have internet access. With that in mind, Coca-Cola South Africa has partnered with bottler Coca-Cola Fortune and communications company BT Global Services to provide underserved South African communities with free Wi-Fi ... which will be built into Coke vending machines.

Initially, the Wi-Fi will be available at machines located in two outlets – the Sasol Integrated Energy Centre in the village of Qunu in the country's Eastern Cape province; and the Thokozane Fast Food store, in the city of Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga province. Both locations are reportedly near schools and shopping centers, and are popular with locals.

No purchase will be necessary to access the Wi-Fi, and it will remain available to individual users for as long as they're in the area. It is hoped that among other things, it will allow students to perform research for school projects, and let small business owners manage their affairs online.

The project is part of BT's Better Future program, which aims to install more Wi-Fi Coke machines in other South African communities as it progresses.

Source: BT via Tech Central

5 comments
5 comments
Rehab
If these coke machines dispensed nothing but cheap ( or free ) water I would agree.
Slowburn
@ Rehab It depends on if it is sweetened with Sucrose or high fructose corn syrup. the latter will kill you.
BigGoofyGuy
I think it is cool that they are providing it free of charge and that it can be used whenever the person is in the area.
Perhaps they could not only sell their soda in it but also their line of bottled water? Coca Cola sells many variations and flavors around the world, some of which is unknown to us in the USA.
I don't know if it mentions if it solar powered or not but that would make it even cooler and green.
bergamot69
Re comments about Coca-Cola bottled water, in the UK they launched a water brand called Dasani, which was later revealed to be nothing more than bottled remineralised London tap water, and if that wasn't bad enough, they marketed it as 'bottled spunk' (sic)- in British slang spunk means semen.
It was withdrawn after being found to contain higher than recommended concentrations of bromate, a suspected carcinogen.
So encouraging underpriveliged people to congregate around a vending machine selling notoriously unhealthy beverages to get WiFi sounds about right for them.
Slowburn
@ bergamot69 So it tastes better than London tap water.