Vodacom, SA's largest cellular operator with 33 million subscribers, is looking into content deals, the company confirmed this morning.
However, the firm would not confirm a Bloomberg report that it is in talks with Spotify around a partnership that would "mark the music-streaming service's first foray into the African continent".
Bloomberg, citing sources, said Vodacom planned to offer subscriptions that include a limited amount of free data to access Spotify's music library. "An agreement with the Johannesburg-based carrier would let Spotify enter Africa after starting in more than 56 countries since it was founded in Sweden in 2006."
Vodacom spokesman Richard Boorman says the company is looking at content deals, but he could not comment on any specific agreements.
CEO Shameel Joosub has said the operator wants to be a bigger player when it comes to digital services such as television and music. He said these kinds of offerings would come on the back of an enhanced network.
Vodacom will spend R17 billion this year as it seeks to gain a march on its competitors in areas such as fibre and digital services.
Vodacom is spending R7 billion to buy out Neotel, SA's second national operator, and investing about R9 billion on capital investment this year as it seeks to boost coverage and add more long-term evolution (LTE) towers. It aims to more than double its LTE sites, from almost 1 000, by the end of next March, and increase 3G coverage to closer to 100% of the population.
Joosub said Vodacom is speeding up its capital spending over the next three years, as it moves towards offering more converged services, which includes fibre, cloud, a network that can handle video, as well as digital services.
The world is moving to voice, data and offerings such as television converging through one provider, Joosub noted.
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