Internet service provider (ISP) TooMuchWifi is looking to affordably connect South African townships.
The ISP recently received an undisclosed amount of financial backing from Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC).
TooMuchWifi is a wireless ISP developed specifically for low-income individuals and SMEs in under-served communities.
It has been providing fibre-backed internet connection to South Africans since 2016, and has a presence in over 40 under-resourced communities in the Western Cape, with over 400 000 customers, growing at a consistent monthly rate of 10%.
These communities include Athlone, Atlantis, Belhar, Bellville, Bishop Lavis, Blue Downs, Bonteheuwel, Charlesville, Crossroads, Elsiesrivier, Guguletu, Hangberg, Hanover Park, Happy Valley, Heideveld, Imizamo Yethu, Joe Slovo and Khayelitsha.
In an e-mail interview with ITWeb, Tauriq Brown, new CEO of TooMuchWifi, says as a nation, South Africa must ensure everyone has equal access to the benefits of the internet because without connectivity, people fall behind and the digital divide becomes an economic divide.
“We will be expanding into the rest of the Western Cape and we have plans to move into Gauteng and Eastern Cape. Our mission is to focus on densely populated areas and wherever the need is greatest.”
Brown, who was appointed CEO in January, is a global venture builder who has previously scaled start-ups. He is originally from Manenberg – one of the 40 communities that TooMuchWifi serves.
He has started and successfully sold ventures for Rocket Internet, a global internet and tech incubator with a market cap of $3.7 billion, including an exit to Alibaba.com, the Chinese online retail giant.
“I’ve earned my tech stripes by scaling businesses around the world, including the highly-successful Rocket Internet. My goal with TooMuchWifi is to drive a rapid increase in our customer base by growing its presence countrywide, asserting its dominance in Cape Town, then broader Western Cape and Gauteng, with the aim to expand into Africa within two to four years,” says Brown.
“To achieve this, we have secured a significant amount of debt and equity funding for an undisclosed amount.”
The company recently attracted a blend of debt and equity funding from the MIC, which now has a 24.85% stake in the business, as well as global impact investors Bamboo Capital Partners and others, to scale operations and bolster its executive team.
“MIC is an incredible strategic partner for TooMuchWifi. Their funding has provided a solid foundation to build our company’s growth,” comments Brown.
“Building an internet service provider is a capital-intensive business, and this funding is critical for us to expand our network, make capital investments in hardware, and hire more staff at all levels of the business to drive expansion and exceptional customer service.
“We started TooMuchWifi in 2016 to bring high-quality, reliable and affordable internet to underserved communities at a time when nobody else was focusing on this market. We always believed connectivity is a human right, and everybody deserves to be connected.”
Brown notes that in 2022, the ISP made the decision to slash prices by 43% to make its WiFi more affordable to more people.
“Later this month, we will be making another exciting announcement around our pricing that will put our WiFi within reach of even more South Africans.”
He notes that oftentimes, when people in underserved communities have access to the internet, they are only offered a subpar connection that is asymmetrical and congested.
“But the large call centre employers require 20Mbps lines for their contact centre staff to work from home.
“We believe internet access is a basic human right, yet only 25% of Africans have access to this basic essential.
“Of that quarter of the population that is lucky enough to be online, a large portion is paying unsustainably high prices. Bringing affordable internet to all Africans is a huge undertaking, and I couldn’t be more excited and proud to be at the forefront of leading this effort.”
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