South African mobile operator MTN and the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) on Tuesday launched the Ring’uvaya (phone while you travel) initiative, which will equip South African taxis with pay phones, enabling commuters to make phone calls in the taxi.
Launching the initiative in KwaZulu-Natal — the province that will get Ring’uvaya phones with effect from Tuesday — MTN commercial director Irene Charnley and Santaco president Tom Muofhe said the initiative will be rolled out to other provinces over time.
The partnership between the two parties will benefit millions of South Africans who rely on taxis as a mode of transport.
“It serves a multipurpose for nine million South Africans; it is first in South Africa, we haven’t seen it anywhere. It is very innovative,” Charnley said, adding that the partnership will mean a lot for the telecommunications sector in the country while helping the economy.
Charnley said MTN has developed a package for taxi owners or operators, providing each taxi with a pay phone with a SIM card loaded with airtime. There are two handsets and calls will be charged at 50 cents per unit (of 12 seconds — or R2,50 per minute).
Revenue will be shared among MTN and drivers/operators. The taxi driver/operator, however, needs to install the product at a certain price.
The product will also assist MTN in “discovering” areas that have no telecommunications coverage — especially in remote rural areas — or those areas that are underserviced.
Newly appointed MTN South Africa MD Karel Pienaar said the company has earmarked 250 sites for MTN coverage deployment in the future. With the aid of the initiative, the company will start deploying in the underserviced areas.
“This will churn huge traffic and definitely provides further investment opportunities for the company,” Pienaar added.
Muofhe and Charnley downplayed the dangers to passengers — given the fact that the driver will now act as a telephone operator in addition to driving.
Muofhe said this additional role will not pose a danger because taxi drivers are “well-trained to collect money and they are always observant”.
“One key area we were concerned about was the safety issue. And therefore Santaco will in the future introduce incentive schemes to further ensure safety for passengers and ensure prevention of accidents,” Charnley said. — I-Net Bridge