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Vodacom plans extensive fibre roll-out

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 18 Dec 2013
Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub says the operator wants to help government reach its 2020 broadband goal.
Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub says the operator wants to help government reach its 2020 broadband goal.

SA's first cellular operator Vodacom is set to aggressively develop its fixed-line business, with an increase of over R2 billion in capital expenditure, according to Business Report.

The daily newspaper refers to a presentation given by Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub to staff, citing the operator's chief as saying Vodacom would spend over R9 billion on its infrastructure in SA in 2014 - compared to the R7 billion it spent this year.

"We're going to start building fibre to the home, fibre to the business and so on, and really start trying to play a bigger role in the fixed space," Joosub said in a video message last week.

According to Business Report, Joosub tags the R9 billion Vodacom plans to spend next year on helping government reach its 2020 broadband target of reliable and affordable broadband Internet to 90% of the population.

Both Vodacom and second operator MTN have focused heavily on small to medium enterprises this year, with Vodacom currently in exclusive buyout talks with fixed-line business operator Neotel.

Confirming what had until then been speculation, in September, Vodacom said the finalisation of the Neotel transaction was subject to the successful conclusion of commercial negotiations and receiving the requisite regulatory and corporate approvals.

"This transaction, if concluded, would stimulate greater competition in the South African fixed telecommunications sector, and will accelerate the provision of high-speed data links. It would also result in the combined entity being able to offer an expanded product range, and as a consequence, enhanced customer choice."

Meanwhile, says Business Report, MTN SA CEO Zunaid Bulbulia said last week the operator had invested almost R10 billion to improve its network in SA. The broadsheet says MTN is expected to spend in that region again next year, primarily to lay fibre-optic cabling underground for the network.

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