Telkom’s biggest threat in the South African fibre market
Remgro recently released its results for the six months ended 31 December 2018, which show a large investment in its South African telecommunications assets.
The company committed an investment of R1.633 billion to Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH) which holds various telecoms assets.
Remgro currently owns 54.5% of CIVH, which in turn owns large stakes in DFA, SqwidNet, SADV, and Vumatel.
These are, however, not the only telecoms assets in Remgro’s stable: it also owns 30% of SEACOM and its extensive African submarine and terrestrial fibre network.
Remgro executive and CIVH chairman Pieter Uys told MyBroadband that they have a strong focus on their telecoms assets, with an aim of aggressively growing this part of their portfolio.
Complete fibre solution
Through its telecommunications assets Remgro is becoming one of Telkom’s biggest competitors in the fixed-broadband and fibre market.
It has an extensive international fibre network through SEACOM with points-of-presence in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and numerous African cities.
DFA provides Remgro with fibre networks in all major metropolitan areas and along prominent long-haul routes – with a total fibre distance of 11,190km.
It also has 2,500km of last-mile fibre through SA Digital Villages, but to become a true fibre player it needed to get into a large number of South African homes and businesses.
Remgro achieved this through CIVH’s acquisition of Vumatel, which is a fibre-to-the-home leader that has 8,000km of fibre in residential areas.
Remgro is therefore in a unique position where it can carry Internet traffic from London to a home in South Africa over its own fibre network.
Remgro’s “fibre unit”
In a recent interview with Financial Mail, Uys said once the Vumatel deal is finalised they can integrate their telecoms businesses as a “unit of fibre”.
This fibre unit will position Remgro as a prominent player in the fixed-broadband market in South Africa and serve the growing demand for data.
Uys previously said the acquisition of Vumatel will significantly strengthen its ability to contribute to getting broadband to every suburb, home, and business in the country.
Remgro is therefore a big fixed-line telecoms player, with its eye on the biggest prize: dominance in the fibre market.
The new CIVH portfolio
The image below shows what the CIVH portfolio looks like after the Vumatel acquisition.
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