Vumatel taking over another fibre giant in South Africa
The Competition Tribunal has approved a merger in which South Africa’s largest fibre network operator (FNO), Vumatel, will acquire control of the country’s third-largest FNO, Herotel.
The tribunal’s approval aligns with a Competition Commission recommendation greenlighting the transaction in March 2025.
Like that recommendation, the approval is subject to certain conditions to address competition and public interest-related concerns.
These include that Vumatel will remain an open-access network and continue providing services to third parties on transparent and non-discriminatory terms.
Vumatel is also prohibited from using Herotel’s metropolitan backhaul, FTTH or FTTB infrastructure to provide wholesale FTTB, wholesale FTTH, or other wholesale services, unless they are offered on an open access basis with non-discriminatory terms.
In addition, it may not procure or receive any services from the Herotel Group unless such services are offered on an open access basis and on non-discriminatory terms by the Herotel Group.
Herotel is currently a closed-access FNO that sells its services exclusively through its own Internet service provider (ISP) retail business.
Another condition is that Vumatel may not reduce its rollout plans for its lower-income Vuma Reach product in favour of rollout through the Herotel Group.
“Vumatel shall pass 540,000 premises (not already passed as at the implementation date) in Reach Areas within three years from the implementation date,” the tribunal ordered.
While both Vumatel and Herotel serve lower-income areas, most of Vumatel’s customer base is concentrated in highly populated cities and large towns, whereas Herotel’s focus is on smaller towns.
Herotel was formed out of the merging of dozens of smaller network infrastructure providers and ISPs, primarily selling fixed-wireless access products.
As of December 2025, Herotel’s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network had passed 606,388 homes, 273,829 of which were using the service.
Vumatel and its parent company, Community Investment Ventures Holdings, first announced the acquisition of a 45% non-controlling stake in Herotel in February 2022.
That had increased to 49.96% a few months later. The plan to acquire all of Herotel was first announced in August 2022.
Therefore, it took South Africa’s competition authorities over three years to consider and rule on the merger.
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