Link Africa has acquired BitCo Telecoms for an undisclosed sum.<\/p>\n
This comes after industry rumours that BitCo had run into financial trouble and was seeking a buyer.<\/p>\n
Link Africa has denied this speculation, saying that BitCo is not in any financial distress.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe acquisition will enable Link Africa to expand its product portfolio, customer base, and network coverage across the country,\u201d the company said in a statement earlier this month.<\/p>\n
While both companies offer residential and business fibre services, Link Africa said its focus has been on underserved and remote areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cBitCo Telecoms, on the other hand, has a strong presence in the business and enterprise sectors,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
BitCo offers a range of services such as fixed line, voice solutions, and cloud services, and Link Africa said it has a loyal and diverse customer base, ranging from SMEs to large enterprises.<\/p>\n
\u201cBitCo Telecoms also provides cloud security and SDWAN solutions, as well as a robust network core,\u201d said Link Africa.<\/p>\n
It said the acquisition would combine both companies\u2019 complementary strengths and capabilities, creating a stronger and more diversified telecommunications provider.<\/p>\n
BitCo CEO Jarryd Chatz is departing the company following the acquisition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has truly been an incredible journey building and expanding BitCo Telecoms over the past decade,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese two companies will undoubtedly spur each other on to greater heights of excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n
BitCo was founded by Garth van Sittert in 2005, when Telkom still held a government-sanctioned monopoly over fixed-line telecommunications in South Africa.<\/p>\n
BitCo stood ready to take advantage of South Africa\u2019s hard-won telecommunications freedom as the market became more liberalised.<\/p>\n
When the industry took the late former communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri to court and won<\/a><\/strong>, a world of new opportunities opened up for the company.<\/p>\n It became a wireless Internet service provider (Wisp), building its own Wi-Fi-based last-mile wireless network that helped provide an alternative to Telkom DSL.<\/p>\n BitCo also rolled out its own Metro Ethernet network in South Africa\u2019s major cities.<\/p>\n When Vumatel broke open the residential fibre market in 2014, BitCo was also rolling out infrastructure \u2014 including upmarket residential estates.<\/p>\n