FIBRE
Vodacom pursues co-build agreements to deploy fibre across South Africa
By Louisa van Beek, Managing Executive for FTTX at Vodacom
South Africa may only be second to Kenya when it comes to fixed broadband speeds in Africa – according to Akamai’ s State of the Internet report – but that clearly can’ t be the right level of ambition.
South Africa ranked 82nd in the world in 2016, with an average broadband speed of 5.6Mbps. Only 38 % of lines exceed 4Mbps. Given South Africa’ s state of fixed-line infrastructure, there is a huge task ahead to catch up with the rest of the world.
Upgrading existing copper-based DSL infrastructure is less viable in South Africa than in many European markets, due to longer distances and the reduction of line speed that this causes. South Africa consequently needs to embark on a journey to widen the footprint of fibre-to-the-home( FTTH) connectivity.
Due to the scarcity of spectrum in South Africa and delays in the process to award new spectrum, fibre is another way to provide additional mechanisms to deliver capacity to people to meet increased data demand.
Higher speeds will enable wider use of eLearning and eHealth applications across the country, and improved telecoms infrastructure has also been shown to correlate with increased economic growth.
26