Vodacom is planning to connect 250,000 homes and businesses via its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and fibre-to-the-business (FTTx) services.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
Vodacom said in April 2014 that it was rolling out fibre in business parks, and was preparing to do the same in gated communities.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Vodacom signed with the developers of the R1.7 billion Baywest Mall in PE\u2019s western suburbs to provide high speed internet to Baywest Mall tenants and shoppers.<\/p>\n
Responding to questions from MyBroadband, Vodacom said that it will invest between R400 million \u2013 R500 million in fibre access in 2015.<\/p>\n
The company plans to reach 250,000 fibre connections within the next three years, with a split of 60% homes and 40% businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re expecting to have around 3,600 fibre connections in place by the end of this financial year (March 2015),\u201d said Joosub.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Many smaller operators are also deploying fibre in neighbourhoods in Gauteng and Cape Town \u2013 notably Vumatel in Parkhurst and DFA in Parkview.<\/p>\n
Vodacom in \u2018landmark\u2019 fibre deal<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Vodacom\u2019s fibre-to-the-home blueprint<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Vodacom Business to boost broadband access<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n