CIV invests in cable-digger

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 14 Aug 2007

Community Investment Ventures (CIV), the black-owned investment holding company with a R500 million investment chest, has taken a 49% stake in Muvoni Weltex.

The specialist fibre optic cable laying operation employs the latest technology to install broadband infrastructure.

CIV has declined to put a value to the deal.

The company believes Muvoni Weltex is set to become a major player in the provision of broadband infrastructure.

CIV says the country is experiencing an explosion in broadband demand and the provision of services from new operators in the market. Research shows local broadband demand will grow rapidly.

In September 2005, SA had 130 000 broadband subscribers, and this is forecast to accelerate "dramatically" to 12 million subscribers by 2015.

Muvoni Weltex is currently installing fibre optic cables for Neotel, in Sandton. The project is part of a proof of concept to roll-out cables using new technology that completes the task easier, faster and with minimum disruption to traffic, while causing less damage to roads.

CIV chairman Eugene Mokeyane - a former public enterprise department director-general - says: "Muvoni Weltex enables technology to work. The advantages in speed and efficiency that their machinery provides are unique in this market, and will accelerate the roll-out of fibre optic cable across the country."

Investing in telecoms

The company uses French "Cleanfast" machines that are able to cut trenches as long as 2km a day. Manual methods of laying cables are limited to digging as little as 100m in the same time.

The procedure for laying the cables entails five steps: trenching - a straight, flat hole (150mm wide and 400mm deep) is dug into the ground; debris is vacuumed from the hole; four pipes which contain four strands of cable each are then inserted into the trench; backfills consisting of a mixture of tar and cement are poured; and lastly a layer of asphalt covers the trench.

CIV largely invests in small and medium businesses in the telecommunications, IT and power sectors. Its portfolio, eight years in the making, is presently worth over R300 million.

Investments include Clearline, Ferrotech and Westingcorp in the power sector; CZ Electronics, Dartcom and MCT in telecommunications; and Cosource in the IT sector.

Mokeyane's team includes Joe Madungandaba, Richard Came, Khudusela Pitje, Nicolaas Venter and Dr Anna Mokgokong.