South Africa’s largest mobile operator, Vodacom will invest R1 billion annually in a new high speed fibre-optic cable network, according to a report by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
Vodacom CEO, Shameel Joosub, said that the group would use its pending acquisition of Neotel to ramp up its high-speed fibre-optic cable play.<\/p>\n
In April, Vodacom said it had reached an agreement to acquire 100% of the issued share capital in, and shareholder loans against fixed line operator, Neotel, for a total cash consideration of R7 billion.<\/p>\n
The deal is still awaiting approval from regulators.<\/p>\n
Vodacom is targeting 5,000 businesses by March 2015, and aims to provide mobile, landline, TV and internet packages following a marginal decline in\u00a0service revenue in its most recent results announcement in July.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Bloomberg, Neotel will increase Vodacom\u2019s fibre network to approximately 29,000 kilometers from a current 7,000 kilometers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of a larger quad play,\u201d Joosub said, referring to bundled mobile, TV, phone and Internet services.<\/p>\n \u201cThe TV side of it will gain momentum as we get more and more penetration. The Neotel acquisition gives us the ability to accelerate this investment,\u201d Joosub told Bloomberg.<\/p>\n In June, Bloomberg reported that Spotify was in talks with Vodacom to offer its music streaming services in Africa.<\/p>\n Vodafone (which owns 65% of Vodacom) also recently announced as part of its strategy to offer content to its users that it would give UK LTE users a six-month subscription to streaming movies and TV shows on Netflix.<\/p>\n Vodacom trialling tap and pay<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Vodacom to spend R1 billion on Gauteng network<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Vodacom in streaming talks with Spotify: report<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore on Vodacom<\/h3>\n