Bad news about fibre rollouts in South Africa

Several major fibre network operators (FNOs) in South Africa will only expand their coverage areas marginally in 2025, with further expansions primarily limited to immediately adjacent affluent neighbourhoods and low-income areas.
This trend will continue a slowdown in FTTH rollouts that emerged in 2024, after many years of rapid expansion in a decade-long rush to capitalise on big demand for reliable fixed Internet connectivity in financially feasible areas.
Vumatel, MetroFibre, and Herotel told MyBroadband that their primary focus in the year to come will also be on increasing customers in areas with existing coverage.
The biggest — Vumatel — said that improving its connection rate and monetising assets was critical.
Although it will continue to build and expand coverage, its new rollouts will follow demand.
That means that Vumatel is unlikely to expand into any areas where existing FNOs are and where it is uncertain that there is sufficient demand.
Vumatel’s homes passed figure jumped to over 2 million in late 2023 and has remained roughly at the same level since then.
Its number of homes connected has improved drastically, from around 700,000 to nearly 1 million.
In recent times, Vumatel has repeatedly maintained that middle-income and affluent suburbs are congested with connectivity options, making further FTTH rollouts in these areas senseless.
It considers areas with monthly incomes below R30,000 as offering the greatest potential for further growth.
South Africa’s third-biggest FNO by homes passed — Herotel — said it would also focus on signing up more customers in areas where its network already existed.
Expansions will be focused on nearby business and industrial zones and a “few” new residential areas.
Herotel’s homes passed increased from 562,556 in December 2023 to 584,976 a year later, a modest improvement of 4%.
However, homes connected to Herotel’s FTTH network increased from 134,019 to 213,883, an impressive jump of 37%. This suggests the FNO’s focus on boosting its connectivity ratio is paying dividends.
Herotel’s strategy differs from other FNOs not only in its operation as a closed-access network and ISP but also its focus on small towns.
Herotel also told MyBroadband it would focus on offering more services beyond the Internet in 2025.
Last year, it partnered with solar rental company GoSolr to give customers discounted energy solutions.
“We also worked on a proof of concept with Kena Health to offer online healthcare services at affordable prices, making it easy for people to get medical help. We hope to grow this partnership in 2025
We’re also looking into security services, but this is still in the early stages and we don’t have much to show and tell.

MetroFibre and Frogfoot
MetroFibre said its strategy for the year was to increase the penetration and saturation of its network and drive up its connectivity ratio.
“We are focusing on ‘sweating’ our assets to ensure better utilisation of our existing infrastructure and greater efficiencies,” MetroFibre said.
In terms of expansion, MetroFibre is looking to acquire networks or businesses that were complimentary and to marginally expand its network, where appropriate.
“Furthermore, we will continue to develop solutions for the changing needs of our residential customers, and specifically underserved communities that do not currently have fibre, near to our current network.”
MetroFibre’s homes passed increased by 10,000 in 2024, putting its total around 510,000, while homes connected grew by approximately 12,000 to roughly 172,000.
MetroFibre is one of just four operators with more than half a million homes passed with FTTH connectivity.
Frogfoot, the country’s fourth-biggest operator by homes connected, also believes the industry’s overall focus will be on expanding prepaid FTTH services in underserviced areas due to saturation in core suburbs.
“We aim to connect more underserved areas through Frogfoot Rise,” the FNO said.
“At the same time, we’ll focus on enhancing our service quality in existing areas to attract and retain customers.”
By the end of 2024, Frogfoot had 406,000 homes passed with FTTH, 169,000 of which were connected to its network.
It should be emphasised that FNOs may still roll out in specific regions adjacent to their current footprints, provided the residents in those areas show sufficient interest to warrant an expansion from an investment perspective.
If you are a resident in one such area and can sign-up enough neighbours to your cause, you can proactively contact an FNO to show your interest.
Three other major FNOs in South Africa — Openserve, Octotel, and Zoom Fibre — did not provide feedback by the time of publication.