![\"Thanks](\"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/GZT-and-Igen-LLR.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>“The downside is that coverage can be limited,” said race director Brad Jackson of Mountain Events.<\/p>\n
“As a boutique event, we realise that it is an important part of our offering to help our participants stay in touch with the outside world.”<\/p>\n
Apart from the needs of the riders, he said it was also an important consideration for the organisers as the three-day event interacted with the public through its digital and social platforms throughout.<\/p>\n
Jackson said an effective internet infrastructure was also imperative to be able to communicate with the media and to offer services like live timing.<\/p>\n
He said Igen, short for Internet Generation, made use of long range, high speed wireless links to provide internet services in the most remote locations.<\/p>\n
“Their complimentary wireless hotspots scattered throughout the race village will allow participants to get online during the event.”<\/p>\n
Igen sales representative Linda van Huyssteen said they would provide the same services as they did in the first year of the sponsorship, which had “worked very well”.<\/p>\n
“The speeds we gave them last year included a 20MB uncapped line for the organisers and media,” she said.<\/p>\n
“The cyclists also received uncapped data, but at a lower bandwidth to ensure the best possible experience for all.”<\/p>\n
Van Huyssteen said they had assisted riders with setting up their phones last year and had received positive feedback from both the participants and race organisers.<\/p>\n
“The internet was working, they were enjoying themselves and everything went according to plan,” she said.<\/p>\n
“We will be offering the same package this year, although we do not need to attend the event this time.”<\/p>\n
She said they did not have any issues with the remoteness of the region due to towers they had installed in the area for the Zuurberg Mountain Village – one of their clients.<\/p>\n
“Everything we need for the sponsorship is there as we put everything in place last year, so basically it is just a case of turning on a switch.”<\/p>\n
Operating as wireless and internet communication service providers, Igen cover a large area in the Eastern Cape, from East London in the east to Stilbaai in the west.<\/p>\n
“We are very happy to be involved in a local event such as this which provides us with a chance to give back to the community,” said Van Huyssteen.<\/p>\n
The PwC Great Zuurberg Trek will take place from May 26 to 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Riders in the PwC Great Zuurberg Trek mountain bike race will again enjoy superior connectivity, thanks to a significant partnership with Port Elizabeth-based company Igen. While the remoteness of the Zuurberg region – adjacent to the Addo Elephant National Park – contributes to the uniqueness of the event, it also affects internet connectivity. “The downside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2310,2311,2305,2306,2307,1944,2115,1945,2312,1747,1815,1234,2308,2309],"class_list":["post-3851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-more-sport","tag-addo-elephant-national-park","tag-brad-jackson","tag-great-zuurberg-trek","tag-igen","tag-internet","tag-mountain-bike","tag-mountain-bike-news","tag-mountain-bike-race","tag-mountain-events","tag-mtb","tag-mtb-news","tag-port-elizabeth","tag-technology","tag-wifi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}