The City of Tshwane, the metro that includes Pretoria, on Tuesday debuted free voice dialling over the city’s free Wi-Fi network built by Project Isizwe.

Users of the free Wi-Fi service can make free calls to others in a free Wi-Fi zone, provided they are both running the voice-over-Internet protocol application on their phone.

Users not in a free hotspot zone can still use the app to make free calls to other app users, though calls placed over the mobile networks will incur a data charge. The city estimates that those with mobile data bundles will pay an average of 10c/minute in data for a call.

The free calling service has been integrated with the city’s call centres, allowing residents to dial these centres free of charge from its network of Wi-Fi hotspots.

At launch, the system will carry up to a thousand concurrent calls, with plans to expand this over time as demand increases.

“As a smart city, we have always argued for government intervention to reduce the high costs of telecoms in South Africa,” the city said.

“The view is informed by many studies, that all come to the same conclusion: charges for fixed-line and cellphone calls in South Africa will continue to hamper our economic efforts to compete on the global stage.

“This situation cannot and should not be left unchallenged,” the city added. “Today we are here to rewrite history. We are to show what is possible when there’s political will.”

Tshwane major Kgosientso Ramokgopa launched the free calling service at a function at Fountains Valley. He also took the wraps off the new Wi-Fi Drive In service, allowing residents to watch free movies delivered on demand over Wi-Fi in selected hotspots.

Fountains Valley, south of the city, is the first area to get the free movies offering. Thirty titles are available at launch and the plan is to add 10 new titles each month.