Wi-Fi 'part of the healing process'

03 July 2014 - 02:00 By Sipho Masombuka
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria is on its way to becoming a hotspot - a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Yesterday it became the first hospital on the continent to offer free Wi-Fi access.

Although now restricted to 10 areas of the hospital, within two months the entire hospital will be covered.

Until now doctors have had to use their own data allocations to download test results from the National Health Laboratory Services but, thanks to the new service, they will be able to log on to the hospital's Wi-Fi.

Once the hospital is one giant hotspot, patients will be able to access the internet.

"This all contributes to the healing process," hospital CEO Dr Ernest Kenoshi said.

The innovation was made possible through a public-private partnership between the provincial department of health and Nano Solutions and Technologies.

The R300000 system comes at no cost to the hospital. Nano intends to get revenue from advertising.

Sharon Tshabalala, the company's managing director, said: "For every 13 minutes a user stays online an advertisement will pop up. That's how we're going to make our money."

Tshabalala said Nano wanted to connect up 40 public hospitals by next year.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now