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Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

businessinsider.co.za

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Re: Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

#131

Post by dade_ »

_-___________-_ wrote: post #102
numlock86 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then Google found out that when the street lights turn off, there's no power to run the access points. Uh? Duh! What did they expect? A switch in every street light? (Which also would need to be controlled in some way ...)

In my experience a fully-centralised switch is actually quite uncommon. In many locations they use light sensors, and if you live above a street oriented the right way you can see quite a cool effect of the lights going off sequentially down the street as the light goes below the threshold. In other locations that I'm familiar with, they use a ripple relay, where a particular signal is transmitted over the power line…

I am surprised Google was surprised, perhaps you were working with more modern infrastructure? Commercial areas?

I ran into this same problem in a the first 3 municipalities around 15 years ago when we tried deploying a street light solution.

Re: Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

#132

Post by kylegordon »

_-___________-_ wrote: post #102
numlock86 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then Google found out that when the street lights turn off, there's no power to run the access points. Uh? Duh! What did they expect? A switch in every street light? (Which also would need to be controlled in some way ...)

In my experience a fully-centralised switch is actually quite uncommon. In many locations they use light sensors, and if you live above a street oriented the right way you can see quite a cool effect of the lights going off sequentially down the street as the light goes below the threshold. In other locations that I'm familiar with, they use a ripple relay, where a particular signal is transmitted over the power line…

> In my experience a fully-centralised switch is actually quite uncommon.

Just to offer a counter-point, in my experience it's often that they are managed in big groups, and individual control is uncommon.

Quite often at the right time you'll see big swathes of lights turning off, sections of neighbourhoods, as far as you can see down a reasonably straight road, etc.

From what I understand, it's usually just a timeswitch in the circuit breaker box at the side of the road.

Re: Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

#133

Post by detritus »

_-___________-_ wrote: post #107
jonathanlydall wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as a South African, still living here. gatvol = "fed up" It disappoints me that so many fellow South Africans are seemingly oblivious to the audience they are interacting with and casually use local slang regardless.

When I saw it I guessed it was some local slang, and I was excited to learn what it meant from someone who really knew rather than some online dictionary. I don't think it should be a disappointment, it contributes to the wonderful diversity of language.

As a Brit, likewise - and the context of this thread is fairly, well, South African.

Re: Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

#134

Post by dade_ »

skc wrote: post #129
dade_ wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Companies in South Africa that deal with the government or parastatals must be empowered as required by the Preferential Procurement Act.' Business is measured by revenue, not the price of a service. I assumed it is obvious to everyone here that everything these companies do is for a profit, regardless of the price tag to the consumer.

Still doesn't pass the smell test since Google, Amazon and Microsoft among others continue to increase their presence in South Africa.

Different scenario. I am expanding the work I have done in South Africa too, it works out well other than load-shedding. I get great resources that speak English with a mysterious accent in a European timezone and I pay them with Monopoly money. Empowerment is a 50% profit factor for their local business, but the numbers are good enough to cover it.

Re: Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

#135

Post by danjc »

bogomipz wrote: post #112
pixelpoet wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eish, that's still going on? I'm half South African and grew up in SA but left in 2007, mainly because of the crime, but also the Telkom monopoly and rolling blackouts ("load shedding") were not so conducive to starting an internet business. It's kinda amazing to me that any techies stay there. Cape Town is beautiful yes, but so is New Zealand (where many Saffers such as my family emigrated to).

>"Cape Town is beautiful yes, but so is New Zealand (where many Saffers such as my family emigrated to" I found this interesting. I did not know that was a common migration. Is there any reason for that? I know they are similar latitudes but I'm guessing there's some other connection?

There's a massive middle-class emigration going on in South Africa. Roughly sorted by volume descending:

* UK - many families have ancestry that enables them to easily get UK/EU Visa's

* Australia - most common Visa is points-based. Aus is attractive because the climate and lifestyle are comparable

* New Zealand - Visa's are more accessible than Aus, some families move to NZ first as a route to Australia but as mentioned there are clusters of expats there too

* US - comparable climate depending on state

* Canada - points-based Visa's

* Panama - you can buy your way in on a ~$3000 visa

Re: Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

#136

Post by satya71 »

sumedh wrote: post #96
wyxuan wrote: post #5

I don't really know why Google, a company, is doing what should be done by the government with no clear benefit to the bottom line. This is not to say they shouldn’t do this, but if you look at it that way, it shouldn't be surprising at all. If they really wanted to help they probably should have teamed up with the government to ensure that there is government buy in to the program.

> with no clear benefit to the bottom line. I dont think they are doing it for the bottom line. Google also offers free wifi on many railway stations in India where lot of poor Indians get to use Internet for the first time. It's good PR but also that automatically becomes a branding opportunity where lot of people think internet means google and creates a trust factor in the mind.

That's also being shutdown according to Indian media. Railtel is going to take over the WiFi in India.

Re: Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

#138

Post by sumedh »

satya71 wrote: post #136
sumedh wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> with no clear benefit to the bottom line. I dont think they are doing it for the bottom line. Google also offers free wifi on many railway stations in India where lot of poor Indians get to use Internet for the first time. It's good PR but also that automatically becomes a branding opportunity where lot of people think internet means google and creates a trust factor in the mind.

That's also being shutdown according to Indian media. Railtel is going to take over the WiFi in India.

Did not know that, just read some articles about it now, Google is blaming very cheap data plans in India.

Re: Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

#139

Post by _-___________-_ »

kylegordon wrote: post #132
_-___________-_ wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience a fully-centralised switch is actually quite uncommon. In many locations they use light sensors, and if you live above a street oriented the right way you can see quite a cool effect of the lights going off sequentially down the street as the light goes below the threshold. In other locations that I'm familiar with, they use a ripple relay, where a particular signal is transmitted over the power line…

> In my experience a fully-centralised switch is actually quite uncommon. Just to offer a counter-point, in my experience it's often that they are managed in big groups, and individual control is uncommon. Quite often at the right time you'll see big swathes of lights turning off, sections of neighbourhoods, as far as you can see down a reasonably straight road, etc. From what I understand, it's usually just a timesw…

Hard to say; it could be time control or ripple control of relays at substations, which would explain neighbourhoods turning on/off at the same time. It's still not fully centralised, and the more "decentralised" (I cringe when I write that word these days) it gets, the cheaper it gets to provide an always-on supply to the lamp post.

Re: Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

#140

Post by jimmydddd »

_-___________-_ wrote: post #102
numlock86 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then Google found out that when the street lights turn off, there's no power to run the access points. Uh? Duh! What did they expect? A switch in every street light? (Which also would need to be controlled in some way ...)

In my experience a fully-centralised switch is actually quite uncommon. In many locations they use light sensors, and if you live above a street oriented the right way you can see quite a cool effect of the lights going off sequentially down the street as the light goes below the threshold. In other locations that I'm familiar with, they use a ripple relay, where a particular signal is transmitted over the power line…

I previously worked at a company that made the light-controlled switches that control individual street lights. We shipped a lot of them, so I assume they are common. They are visiable and you can often spot them. They look like a plastic bulb on top of the light fixture.

At one point we came out with a slim line (low profile) design. When I asked why, they said that good ol' boys in Texas were riding in pickups and shooting the switches as a game. The low profile model was a harder target to hit. :-)

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