Johannesburg executive mayor Parks Tau has promised that his administration will roll out a thousand Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the city before the end of his five-year mayoral term in 2016.

He made the pledge in his state of the city address, which he delivered in Soweto on Monday.

“This year will see the completion of the roll-out of our broadband network,” Tau said. The city is building a fibre-optic network in conjunction with Ericsson South Africa through the BWired initiative.

“Wi-Fi has gone live from today, right here, as we speak, in the Orlando Communal Hall, and at the following nine Rea Vaya stations: Orlando Stadium and police station, Soccer City, Noordgesig, Joburg Theatre, Park Station, Art Gallery, Carlton Centre and Fashion Square,” he added.

“We intend to roll-out a thousand Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the city before the end of the mayoral term.”

He did not say whether access to these hotspots would be free or not, but said the broadband network will “significantly increase access through our libraries to the Internet, including open online courses”.

“Thirty-five libraries will be connected by June, and all 85 libraries will have free Internet access by the end of 2014.”

The mayor added that the city intended training at least a thousand students a year in its technology operations. They will then “work within communities to introduce the latest technology and ensure that the benefits of our broadband network are experienced by residents”.

“We are presently working on a partnership with the University of the Witwatersrand in respect of the Tshimologong Precinct in Braamfontein, focusing on IT innovation and small, medium and micro enterprise incubation. Together with our partners we will soon launch our own Joburg ‘hackathon’.”