Poa! Internet has announced that it has deployed over 3,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across Nairobi and Kiambu counties. This will ensure that its subscribers get to experience seamless home broadband and street Wi-Fi.
The low-cost ISP provides free public Wi-Fi to all of its broadband subscribers whenever they connect to any of the hotspots across its network of low-income and rural communities in and around Nairobi, being: Kibera, Jamhuri, Kawangware, Kangemi, Kabiria, Waithaka, Racecourse, Kinoo, Dagoretti, Kikuyu, Kiambu, Ting’anga, Kirigiti, Ndumberi and Githunguri.
Other than its subscribers, UKO POA Wi-Fi can also be used by non-broadband subscribers at prices far lower than traditional data bundles. For these pay-as-you-go users, the Wi-Fi network, at speeds of up to 2Mbps, offers unlimited volumes of data for just Sh10 an hour, or Sh50 a day.
The new integrated network has been made possible through poa!’s partnership with global Wi-Fi solutions provider Fon. Fon’s partnership with poa! is its first in East Africa. Fon is a global Wi-Fi network. It pioneered residential Wi-Fi sharing over a decade ago and, together with leading telcos, it has built the world’s largest Wi-Fi community of over 21 million hotspots. Fontech, the technology arm of Fon, makes managing and operating Wi-Fi smart and simple for operators and enterprises by its software-based solutions. Fon’s and Fontech’s global clients include AT&T, British Telecom, Telstra, KPN, SFR, Deutsche Telekom Group and Vodafone Group.
Poa! Internet CEO, Andy Halsall had this to say, “We realized that if we were truly going to deliver a step-change in access to the Internet in Kenya, we needed to innovate and build new business models around next generation technology. Fon developed the Wi-Fi sharing model that now dominates the Internet landscape in the West. Wi-Fi sharing access points provide Internet in homes and on the streets of many developed nations, and we are proud to bring this technology to East Africa.”