Education is the key to unlocking a better future for our entire nation which is why MTN offers free Wikipedia to every single person in South Africa.
MTN has been providing free Wikipedia access to all its subscribers, putting much-needed learning materials in the hands of every school child in South Africa since its Neknomination in 2014.
But it seems that no one actually knows this!
Neknominations started filling everyone’s timelines in January 2014 but it was only when Brent Lindeque, a young South African man who turned the reckless drinking game on it’s head, did the world start taking notice.
By giving a homeless man a $2 meal, and using the power of social media to “pay-it-forward” his nomination went viral and started a global trend of giving back instead of just drinking.
The simple act spawned thousands of similar videos, reaching and physically improving millions of lives around the world. Individuals and corporates jumped on board to do good like MTN who started offering Wikipedia for free to all of their subscribers.
In an open call to Cell C, MTN, Vodacom and 8ta (Telkom Mobile), the learners from the Sinenjongo High School in Milnerton, Cape Town Neknominated South African mobile providers to offer subscribers free access to Wikipedia.
“We think this is a wonderful idea and would really like to encourage you also to make the same offer here in South Africa. It would be totally amazing to be able to access information on our cell phones which would be affordable to us,” the learners said.
The learners do not have open access to a library or computers at school, but most of them have cell phones.
“90% of us have cell phones but it is expensive for us to buy airtime so if we could get free access to Wikipedia it would make a huge difference to us,” they said.
MTN was the first and only network to respond… and started to provide free access to Wikipedia to all its subscribers on the 14 February 2o14.
“We know that many school children in this country don’t have access to research material, which can make excelling at school so much more difficult,” MTN said.
“That’s why MTN is proud to be the first South African cellular network to make Wikipedia free. Free Wikipedia means access to a wealth of knowledge on just about every topic, giving a boost not only to school children, but to the whole education system of South Africa.”