Vumatel has reached an agreement to acquire fellow fibre-to-the-home provider Fibrehoods, potentially kick-starting a long-expected consolidation of the industry, in which it is estimated there are more than two dozen players.
The value of the acquisition has not been disclosed.
Vumatel, which has quickly emerged as one of the fastest-growing fibre broadband providers in South Africa, said the acquisition of Fibrehoods will help it “build a connected South Africa faster”.
The company said it plans to complete its fibre infrastructure roll-out across Johannesburg by the third quarter of 2017.
“The Fibrehoods network complements Vumatel’s network footprint with little overlap,“ said Schoeman. “Through Fibrehoods, we gain more capability to expand into new suburbs quicker. There are also ancillary benefits that we gain from economies of scale.”
Vumatel, however, lays trenched fibre, while Fibrehoods has until now focused on deploying aerial fibre.
Vumatel said it plans to integrate the two businesses over time, but this will not happen immediately. “For now the companies will still operate as separate businesses and we will manage the integration only once we are happy that it can happen smoothly.”
The acquisition gives Vumatel access to a number of new suburbs in Johannesburg. They are Atholl, Beverley Gardens, Bordeaux North, Bordeaux South, Bryanston Ext 3, Craighall, Craighall Park, Dunkeld, Dunkeld West, Elton Hill, Illovo, Inanda, Lyme Park, Norwood, Oaklands, Orchards, Rivonia, Savoy, Vandia Grove, Waverley and Winston Ridge. — © 2016 NewsCentral Media