Vodacom outlines R500 million fibre plans

Vodacom is planning to connect 250,000 homes and businesses via its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and fibre-to-the-business (FTTx) services.

This is according to Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub, who said that with the current penetration in SA at 2%, and with European countries at about 95% penetration, “there is a huge opportunity to do a lot more”.

Vodacom said in April 2014 that it was rolling out fibre in business parks, and was preparing to do the same in gated communities.

Earlier this week, the operator said it has won a contract to light the entire fibre optic backbone of the 320 hectare Baywest City development in Port Elizabeth.

Vodacom signed with the developers of the R1.7 billion Baywest Mall in PE’s western suburbs to provide high speed internet to Baywest Mall tenants and shoppers.

Responding to questions from MyBroadband, Vodacom said that it will invest between R400 million – R500 million in fibre access in 2015.

The company plans to reach 250,000 fibre connections within the next three years, with a split of 60% homes and 40% businesses.

“We’re expecting to have around 3,600 fibre connections in place by the end of this financial year (March 2015),” said Joosub.

Vodacom is not alone in its fibre-to-the-home ambitions. MTN is rolling out fibre to selected neighbourhoods, and Telkom is set to launch its FTTH products later this year.

Many smaller operators are also deploying fibre in neighbourhoods in Gauteng and Cape Town – notably Vumatel in Parkhurst and DFA in Parkview.

Source
http://businesstech.co.za/news/general/73312/vodacom-outlines-r500-million-fibre-plans/