Collaborating with frontline social inclusion charities, Citizens Online, Justlife and Diverse and Ability, the initial pilot expects to see nearly 30 vulnerable people in emergency accommodation in Brighton, with no internet access, provided with WiFi through the specially developed connectivity device. 

With 17% of UK households lacking fixed broadband and with lockdown measures meaning that many social service providers are using online platforms to share information, provide education materials and support the vulnerable, access to the internet has never been more vital. 

Get Box is a paperback-sized, internet connectivity device that provides low cost, secure and rapidly deployable WiFi for tens of people in a single household. The box can be mailed to a user who simply plugs it into mains electricity and within one minute has access to a highly secure WiFi network running over a 3G/4G SIM card.

The device is a smaller and lower cost version of the charity's inaugural product, Big Box, which brings high performance WiFi for hundreds to thousands of people in disaster zones, refugee camps and isolated communities around the world. 

Co-founder of Jangala, Nils O’Hara, commented: “During this time, the internet is a lifeline for the vulnerable and Get Box is our solution to tackling the barriers to access. Existing approaches to providing WiFi to those with acute needs are lacking as a result of high associated costs, need for technical installation and poor digital literacy. We are proud to have developed an accessible solution to this problem.”

Managing Director of Citizens Online, Richard Denyer-Bewick, commented: “With 1 in 5 adults increasingly at risk of being left behind as essential services move online, we need to be exploring innovative ways of tackling digital exclusion. Digitally excluded people also lack skills, confidence, and access to online help. This exciting collaboration aims to provide accessible WiFi devices as well as remote digital skills support from our Digital Champions.” 

CEO of Justlife, Simon Gale, said: “We work to support people who are homeless and placed in emergency accommodation. Often the people that we work with are isolated and dealing with health issues and, for many, the COVID-19 lockdown has compounded this. The pilot will be an amazing way for them to access support, speak with family and friends and keep entertained.”

Jangala will commence pilots for refugees in isolation in Greece in the coming weeks and are looking for further partners to deploy to.