Demand for access to WiFi across South Africa is rising as connectivity becomes critical to business and employee activity.

A new report by Ruckus Networks and World Wide Worx shows that 51.4% of corporate companies and 50% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) surveyed say the need for access to WiFi “everywhere” is important.

“The research reveals the growing importance of WiFi for both business use and local smart city project roll-outs,” says World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck.

However, despite the growing importance of pervasive WiFi, the ‘2018 WiFi in South Africa’ study highlights that 97% of corporations and 95% of small businesses use WiFi internally, with large businesses in South Africa limiting out-of-office use and solely depending on in-house use.

Half of the respondents say their entire staff are using WiFi internally, with the rest reporting use ranging from high to low.

“External use, on the other hand, flipped this trend around, with 59% saying they did not allow external use of WiFi to access the corporate network, with a sliding scale declining to 13% saying they allowed all staff to access the network from external WiFi,” Goldstuck notes.

The report shows the “use, priorities, intentions and attitudes” of 106 information technology leaders in terms of WiFi technology and its deployment in smart cities.

The findings reveal that 86% of large businesses predominantly use WiFi for Internet of Things (IoT) security and monitoring, 80% for connection to the Intranet and 70% for cloud integration and adoption.

Ninety-five per cent of the small businesses surveyed use WiFi predominantly for connection to the Internet and Intranet, followed by cloud adoption and IoT integration.

These findings suggest that larger enterprises have more clearly defined needs and uses for WiFi, he highlights.

Further, quality and service rank significantly higher than cost for most large businesses.

Some 94% of the respondents rank the quality of the WiFi connection as the most important factor, followed by speed and constant connectivity, both at 92%, while cost ranks last out of the four options at 81%, the report finds.

“While the need for WiFi is growing, there are still a few hurdles that South Africa needs to overcome if we are to truly reap the benefits of pervasive connectivity,” Goldstuck comments.

Smart Cities

“While South Africa is still a long way from having a true smart city, business decision-makers have a strong awareness of its benefits and 95% believe that wider availability of WiFi will contribute to a smart city strategy,” he says.

The survey shows that more than a third of businesses believe that smart cities will boost the economy and attract new businesses, while just under a third say it will reduce operating costs.

The findings also show that 76% of the respondents indicate that fibre infrastructure is the biggest technology barrier to smart cities roll-out, followed by the lack of an IoT ecosystem, and of a unified view for city and infrastructure stability.

About 20% of the respondents say the barriers to smart cities are nontechnology related, with a lack of funding cited by 71% and the cost of access by 40% of the respondents.

These findings suggest that financial issues are the core challenge facing smart cities, Goldstuck says.

“This research indicates that a strong, reliable WiFi network is critical for South African businesses and smart city deployments,” Ruckus Networks sub-Saharan Africa sales director Riaan Graham adds.

“Although there are still several hurdles to overcome, it is reassuring to see a widespread belief that smart cities can provide value for the economy and citizens, with WiFi as the glue.”