Frogfoot partners with 21 charities to launch 2023 National Blanket Drive

Frogfoot schools rugby 7s tournament shaping up to deliver high-energy entertainment

Open-access fibre network provider Frogfoot, which has a presence throughout South Africa, is proud to launch a schools rugby 7s tournament that will culminate in a grand final in Pretoria. Along with its partners Vodacom, Vox, Cool Ideas, Afrihost and Joule, Frogfoot is delighted to bring joy to communities in the form of the televised Frogfoot 7s tournament, which will take place for at least the next 3 years.

The tournament, which will take place at various schools around the country in August, September and October, will work towards a grand climax at Loftus in Pretoria on 5 November. Miranda Du Preez, Head of Brand Activations at Frogfoot, says that the idea for the tournament was born from the wish to give something back to communities, especially in light of current challenges and the drought of festival-type events brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, while also providing another platform for South Africa’s immensely talented school players to shine.

Du Preez says: “We have designed the Frogfoot 7s to be a combination of good rugby and family leisure time, with entertainment for young to old, from the games themselves, to fun activities and entertainment sections. A great tradition in rugby sevens globally is dressing up, and so we can’t wait to give the best-dressed supporters great prizes, alongside other competition prizes made possible through our partnership with Vodacom, Vox, Cool Ideas, Afrihost and Joule.”

Vodacom’s Executive Head of FTTH: Sales and Marketing, Strini Micheal, says that as one of the internet service providers (ISP) on the Frogfoot network, Vodacom Fibre wanted to further solidify their partnership and support a sport that brings people and families together.

“As the late great Nelson Mandela said: ‘Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand’. This is a statement which resonates with Vodacom being a purpose-led organisation, especially during these trying times. This is a great opportunity to bring the communities together,” says Michael.

Vox’s Head of Strategic Marketing, Blanka Sulentic, says that Vox has been partnering with Frogfoot in the delivery of fibre connectivity to local communities it serves, and so partnering for the rugby 7s competition brings further synergy to their relationship and allows partners to engage, connect and uplift communities through sport.

“The school rugby players have the opportunity to attract the attention of sports scouts looking for new talent. Being a televised event, it’s a perfect opportunity for the young talent to shine. And of course, our aim is to raise awareness about the benefits of fibre connectivity, which is changing the way we live, study, work and play,” says Blanka.

Michael Van Onselen, Commercial Sales Manager of ISP Cool Ideas, says the business is always looking for opportunities to support communities, schools and sport in South Africa. “The Frogfoot 7s is a cool event – which is echoed in our name – and it brings these elements together: schools, communities and sport.

“Sport has an amazing ability to positively impact society. Whether it’s helping children, communities or even nations, sports make a difference on a daily basis. We are looking forward to the Frogfoot 7s. The same energy the rugby players bring on the field you will find off the field – super-fast, fun and energetic, with a few cool prizes up for grabs on the day!”

Afrihost’s Brand Creative Manager said being involved in the festival was a natural evolution of the ISP’s relationship with Frogfoot. “We believe the internet plays a crucial role in education by bringing a world of knowledge to the innovators of tomorrow. Afrihost and Frogfoot already have an established partnership and for the past few years have been offering schools across South Africa free fibre. The sevens competition is a natural extension of our partnership – after all, a healthy mind and healthy body go hand in hand.”

Commenting on the Rugby 7s, Du Preez says: “This is an exciting opportunity for Under-17 school players to test their skills against schools nationally, with the opportunity to play on one of the best fields in South Africa if they make it to the final.

Rugby 7s is a fast, high-scoring version of traditional rugby, played between two teams of seven players who have 14 minutes to advance. Frogfoot brought on board nine leading schools in our regions to host 10 game days. Each host school will invite 16 opponent schools for a day of high level, competitive, U17’s rugby sevens. The tournament will start in August and end on 5 November, in the final at Loftus.

Du Preez says: “Hopefully we create excitement around the sport and the players can express their potential against other players from schools around the country, while their families and the border community have an opportunity to join in on the festivities, including games, live music and much more. It is an event to celebrate both the sport and the positive impact it has on everyone.”

For more information, members of the public are invited to follow Frogfoot’s social media pages.

Video: Frogfoot proudly presents the Frogfoot 7s!

The programme of events for the competition is as follows:

What is Fibre?

Whether you are online for entertainment or strictly for business, there is no doubt that a faster connection will improve your experience. There has been an increase in the use of Fibre in today’s world and more people are moving away from ADSL to Fibre connections. In order to fully understand what makes Fibre so froggin’ awesome we need to take a step back and start with the basics.

What is Fibre?

A fibre optic connection sends data at incredible speeds using fibre optic cables. For data transmission, light pulses are used instead of copper wires and electricity, which is a more efficient method than that of a traditional copper line. A copper line depends purely on the transmission of electrical currents to perform the same function, but as the current travels over a longer distance, the line deteriorates, and the speed becomes slower. Fibre optic cable can manage a higher frequency range and therefore more data can be transmitted.

What is the difference between ADSL and Fibre?

ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. It is a broadband connection that transmits data through the copper wires of existing phone lines. When it comes to broadband speed, ADSL can be unreliable – how much speed you can get depends very much on how far you live from your telephone line pole. The further the telephone pole the slower the speed of your line. Congestion on your line with a copper cable is very common, the higher the traffic speed the slower your download speed.

Fibre broadband is better, faster, and more reliable than that of standard ADSL internet and is delivered to homes and businesses through fibre optic cables. Fibre can handle higher amounts of traffic without affecting your upload or download speed. The Fibre optic cables are less prone to interference, which means there is less risk of disruption to your network and they are resistant to corrosion, which also makes them more durable.

Why choose Fibre?

1. Fibre is reliable, it can handle more users and more data at a consistently high speed.
2. You can upload and download files quickly.
3. No throttling – level up your gaming experience, video chat with friends and family without any buffering.
4. Connecting your home’s CCTV camera to your Fibre, will allow for you to have full access 24/7 on what is happening around your home and neighbourhood.
5. You can download a 2 hour HD movie in seconds, compared to waiting 30 minutes with an ADSL line. Fibre offers higher bandwidth than ADSL and can be used for both homes and businesses.

Now that you know the difference and the benefits, it’s time for you to take the leap forward and discover the world of Fibre. With over 140 Internet Service Providers on our network, you can make a choice that will suit your budget. For more information please watch our video.

Visit our website to check for coverage and place your order here!

How Fibre can help you stay more connected during lockdown

If you’re a fibre regular, you know the benefits are incomparable! Fibre means super fast internet speeds and the most stable internet connection at all times. This introduces you to a world of entertainment, as well as work opportunities that were previously impossible or too expensive.

As we pass the halfway mark in Lockdown, it is clear that fibre is the firm favourite for the entire family and those who are working from home. Fibre has without a doubt, significantly reduced the amount of retrenchments that have taken place already in the country. With fast internet access, fibre means employees are still able to complete their work from the comfort of their home as they self-quarantine.

Let’s look at more benefits of using fibre at home:

Stay in touch

Stay connected with your family from all over the world using video and voice calling technology with a clear connection. Living far apart from your family, especially during lockdown, can get incredibly lonely. Luckily Skype, Zoom and other telecommunication platforms that provide video chat and voice calls have been around since as early as 2003. The difference is that we didn’t always have the connectivity we do now. With that said, visuals were grainy, and audio was crackly and delayed.

Working remotely?

For those who have worked from home during lockdown, you may have experienced certain benefits of fibre to your work environment. These include video conference calls, shared screen presentations and the ability to get work done as if you were still sitting at your desk at the office.

You may even realise that you can work for longer hours since a large majority of distractions have now been removed from your work environment. And it isn’t isolating, working from home with a fibre connection means you can use Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP to make calls at a fraction of normal costs, enhancing productivity even more.

Fibre is reliable

The number one benefit of fibre is how reliable the connection is. Since fibre is laid underground in trenches and not in copper wires above the ground, it is far less prone to a disturbance or theft, since the fibre cables are tiny little wires which do not hold the value that copper wire does to thieves. This means you can enjoy uninterrupted connectivity that allows you to get everything done in a short space of time.

Education

The Lockdown in SA has meant that all parents now have to homeschool their children in the interim. This can be a daunting task to most parents who may doubt their old school day Mathematics skills. Luckily, the internet is teeming with interactive and highly accredited online educational platforms for your child to learn. Exercises require an internet connection that is stable, reliable and fast, in order to keep their children focused on the task at hand during class time. Fibre is the answer to homeschooling and all online educational programs as it allows the student to learn in real time and does not cause frustration or latency, which can make it difficult to concentrate when learning.

Learning new skills

What new skills have you learnt during Lockdown? We have all naturally become curious about a hobby or skill we always wanted to try but never had the time to pursue. YouTube has become the most wonderful platform to learn pretty much anything you want on a subject matter. It also has live interactions during live streams and interactive chat forums, so you can learn to become a health guru, tech whiz or rock star guitarist with advice from people all over the world.

Workouts

Possibly one of the biggest trends right now during Lockdown is exercise classes using Zoom, Skype or other telecommunication platforms. Fibre allows the stream of information to flow smoothly and without interruptions as opposed to other forms of connectivity where the audio and visuals will not be as clear. This is because live streams require a large amount of bandwidth as you are sending and receiving information instantly as well as simultaneously.

Double Up campaign

Our Double Up campaign was designed to help fellow Froggies, not only stay online, but to benefit from all the extra time spent at home. We also took into account that schools, as well as businesses, would close and students and workers would be expected to work from home (provided that they could).

Ready to take the leap and get connected with Fibre? Check for coverage here!