The units have been installed nationwide in Hipzones (hospitality venues such as coffee shops, campus canteens, restaurants and hotels) and will provide 25MB of free bandwidth to users per day. All users are required to do in return, is offer their feedback anonymously about the service they receive in that specific Hipzone.
"This is a model that allows brands to better understand their consumers and consumers to get what they actually want, including free internet access," Roy D Ingle, MD at Hipzone. The TV units will also have the additional function of being used as branding space.
"Because we installed some basic hardware at each zone, we needed to ensure that plugs wouldn't get pulled out by patrons," says Ingle. "We developed a single housing for our router, access point, power supply and contracted Todwil, a Cape-based company that specialises in retail-marketing solutions, to manufacture these units."
Todwil was briefed to design the units in the form of retro-chic 1960's TV sets that would be functional and durable enough to protect the router units they would house. Through several processes of printing and vacuum forming, the prototype was completed and internal components tested. Hipzone tested the unit in market and gave permission to manufacture.
