As someone who uses SWVL almost every other day, I wouldn’t think of this as being a significant announcement. I have seen the Moja WiFi stickers on some of the SWVL buses I use, but I’ve never bothered myself to try it out. Why? Because I don’t think free WiFi is big hype nowadays as it was say 6 years ago.
But, perhaps, I am wrong. And maybe I am not the target market. So to the full details:
SWVL bus company and BRCK have announced a partnership that will see riders enjoy MOJA WiFi aboard the buses while heading to their destinations.
Moja was launched by BRCK back in 2017 as a free WiFi project. And apart from offering free internet access, there’s mojawifi.com where you can access news, books, music, tv shows and more.
BRCK has approached the free WiFi idea by having a place where consumers can access different creators be it writers, musicians, etc. Organisations can also place ads targeting specific locations.
Now back to my first paragraph, as someone who uses SWVL, I don’t see any value add to my trips with free WiFi. I am yet to see anyone in the buses with the Moja stickers connect to it. Even if there’s people who do, the numbers must be very very low. And I hope BRCK or SWVL share stats on this if I am wrong.
Free WiFi in public transport is something that has never worked in Kenya, and perhaps will never take off. We’ve seen so many different takes on the idea, from Safaricom’s VUMA ONLINE to Google’s WAZI WIFI and they all failed.
With very many companies trying out different forms of free WiFi, it is important to know that when you connect to such networks, you expose yourself to possible attacks that may include collection of personal data including passwords, pics, emails, chats etc.
Check out my thoughts on SWVL:
