South African fibre network operator (FNO) Vumatel is accelerating its push into underserved communities, with plans to pass an additional one million homes over the next five years as it targets two million subscribers nationwide.
Speaking in an interview with ITWeb TV, chief commercial officer Simon Butler said the company’s next phase of growth will be driven largely by expansion beyond traditional metro markets, building on the success of its prepaid fibre model first piloted in Mitchells Plain.
Vumatel is a central asset in the recently-approved Vodacom-Maziv deal, with Maziv housing both Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa.
Following successful fibre rollouts in established, leafy suburbs, more South African FNOs are turning their attention to previously marginalised and underserved areas.
Driven by growing demand for high-speed, uncapped connectivity and the promise of expanding digital access, these operators are extending their infrastructure into townships and peri-urban communities.
This month, Vumatel announced it had officially surpassed one million fibre subscribers, marking a milestone for South Africa’s telecommunications sector and highlighting how rapidly fibre has become essential infrastructure.
The company says a significant portion of the growth has been driven by the rapid adoption of Vuma Reach services. It adds that subscriber growth initially came largely from traditional core metro areas and established suburbs in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
However, in recent years, the company has seen strong momentum from its rollout into Reach areas, where it is providing uncapped, unrestricted broadband to previously underserved communities.
Future build plans
Butler noted that demand for high-speed, uncapped connectivity continues to outstrip mobile alternatives, positioning fibre as critical infrastructure for South Africa’s digital economy.
“Vumatel started in 2014 with a pilot project in the suburb of Parkhurst in Johannesburg and the idea was to see if fibre could be adopted and eventually scale. It was ultimately very successful and grew to the surrounding suburbs, such as Parktown and Greenside, and ultimately metros across South Africa,” Butler said.
“In 2019, we looked at new segments to open up and we looked at the previously underserved areas, and we did a pilot project in Mitchells Plain where we launched a first-of-its-kind prepaid fibre. It was very successful, and from there we expanded across the country. Today, we sit with close to 2.2 million homes passed (with fibre) and a million customers connected.”
Butler said Vumatel has passed 1.1 million homes in the underserved areas. “We plan to pass a further one million homes in the next five years in the previously underserved areas, and it is definitely the biggest expansion point for most of the competitor fibre FNOs.”
Describing the advantages of fibre over mobile, Butler said mobile and fixed LTE networks are inherently limited and not designed to handle high-density usage.
He explained that as more users connect within a suburb, mobile speeds tend to decline, while the high cost of spectrum further constrains mobile network operators.
In contrast, he noted, fibre overcomes these challenges, “with Vumatel’s network capable of delivering speeds of up to 1Gbps to every home – well beyond what fixed mobile can offer”.
“Most importantly, fibre is completely uncapped data, data in abundance, and I think in the current world in terms of streaming and access to the digital economy, that is a critical need.”
According to Butler, Vumatel has to date laid out 45 000km of fibre across the country. “We have fibre across all the metros but as we expand, we are looking to roll out fibre outside of those metros.”
Vodacom-Maziv deal impact
Butler said Vumatel’s primary success factor is its open-access model and the strong relationships it maintains with the internet service providers (ISPs) that commercialise its network.
He noted that through the deal, Vumatel acquired an additional 150 000 customers from the Vodacom network, who will be integrated into Vumatel’s ecosystem and made accessible to all its ISPs.
He added that the company currently works with around 78 ISPs and that operations continue as usual after the merger.
Butler also addressed the challenge of construction mafias that FNOs grapple with in South Africa when they lay fibre.
“It’s a reality of the country and it’s a problem across multiple infrastructure providers, even outside fibre. We’ve had encounters in several areas, particularly in KZN, in the past when we were rolling out initially.
“It is a challenge but we have good relations and we focus on employing contractors within the communities and we are very much community-driven and I think that has helped us a lot in terms of mitigating that.”
Butler said it is critical for Vumatel to involve local communities not just from a sales or contractor perspective, but also to ensure the rollout benefits the community itself. He added that this approach has been a key differentiator in the company’s fibre expansion efforts.
On competition in the market, he noted Vumatel views competition as beneficial for South Africa, adding that while the company would like to connect every home, that is not practically possible.
He stated that the more companies invest in infrastructure and expand their networks, the greater the overall benefit to the country. He also pointed out that rising competition has contributed to some consolidation within the local fibre market.
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