If you were on Facebook or Twitter today you probably noticed Econet Wireless’ teaser for “Free WiFi on the Go”. According to the advert, starting tomorrow the mobile operator could be providing its subscribers with free access to WiFi.
No other details about this have been shared and while we haven’t been able to get any information on what it is the name does leave room for some speculation.
We are guessing that it’s probably free internet for subscribers who use the Econet WiFi Zone.
This is the service which was launched in early 2015 as a way to ease congestion on its mobile broadband network through mobile data offloading- a process that gives subscribers the option to switch from the mobile broadband network to a nearby WiFi connection.
Other than the advantage of using a faster network that isn’t affected by the congestion issues that plague the mobile broadband network, Econet has, in the past, sold this with discounts of up to 25% on the cost of data.
It’s likely that the Free WiFi as You Go will be Econet making those connections free altogether.
The free option could be a way of raising awareness of the service which will be turned back into a premium service once the right amount of interest has been created around it and the broadband network is experiencing some notable relief from the WiFi offloading.
Besides the brownie points that Econet might get to score with subscribers, there’s also the consideration of network quality and service delivery that just became an issue with new regulations on telecoms service quality.
Or perhaps Econet is taking small steps to accommodate those considerations with better network delivery.
Then again, all of this is just speculation really. We’ll find out tomorrow when the service is unveiled.
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10 comments
Free wifi when you spend $x on data and airtime.
Of course!
probably trying to get its customers to use the wifi network and then introduce wifi calling and trial it using Econet’s existing customer base. Another first from Eco-Rape.
Plus they have already spent the money building the network, it might as well be used by someone esp since the old wifi billing model was when you login to the Econet wifi you are billed on to your existing data plan/bundle /airtime tethered to ones registered phone number. Which simply put, means none of us actually used it ,,,
What is econet saying. Let’s not speculate.
hwhaa wifizone only used it once ndine 1 I bought cz seriously 1 for 10 mb who can afford that.
me thinks they tryin to respond to the telecel facebook thing
Time wasted on speculation. You should have asked your reliable “inside sources”.
Not feasible,don’t try to fleece subscribers clandistinely.
They know we love free things and I guess all our heads have been turned!
Thanks extremely practical. Will certainly share website with my buddies