Octotel and MetroFibre Networx are actively assessing a combination that would create South Africa’s third-largest fibre network operator, Octotel CEO Trevor van Zyl has told the TechCentral Show.
The two companies share a common investor. A consortium led by African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), a division of Old Mutual Alternative Investments, acquired Octotel in 2024, and AIIM is MetroFibre’s largest shareholder.
Asked whether a merger of the two is the logical next step, Van Zyl said it is an opportunity being examined rather than a done deal. “It certainly makes sense to look at the synergies that exist between both those businesses,” he said. “They’re both large businesses. Collectively it would place a merged or consolidated environment as the third-largest operator in the country. With that comes a significant opportunity – and of course a lot of complexities that come with that as well.”
Pressed on whether talks are under way, he said: “At the moment we are assessing all the synergies, and there’s no doubt that there are definitely opportunities to explore. We’re working within the frameworks that have been set aside by the Competition Commission, and that’s important.”
He said the resolution of the Vodacom-Maziv case has made consolidation easier to contemplate. “It does to a large extent,” he said, though he cautioned that any deal still has to justify itself: “What is the benefit of consolidating in the first place? That’s really what we’ve got to ask ourselves.”
Van Zyl said the bigger opportunity now lies outside the Western Cape, while stressing there are still areas in the province that need fibre and that Octotel will keep building there. Octotel’s network now covers the Cape Town metropole, the West Coast and the Garden Route, passing just under 400 000 homes.
‘Very little overlap’
He said the overlap with MetroFibre in the Western Cape is minimal. MetroFibre built its Western Cape presence on the enterprise side. MetroFibre’s consumer network is concentrated in Gauteng and other parts of the country. “It’s actually very little overlap with us,” he said. “There’s a really good opportunity here in the Western Cape to leverage each other’s assets and infrastructure.”
Neither business is waiting for a transaction before spending. “It would be negligent for us to slow down waiting for any sort of transaction to take place,” Van Zyl said. “We’re putting our foot flat.”
MTN South Africa CEO Ferdi Moolman told TechCentral earlier this month that the operator has not ruled out buying fibre network assets when the right opportunity arises, and did not take a Telkom transaction off the table. Asked whether Octotel could end up part of that consolidation, Van Zyl would not be drawn, but did not rule it out either. “Anything is possible as you move forward,” he said. “If they really come along in two years’ time, three years’ time, absolutely we would have a look at that.”
He expects consolidation among ISPs too, as networks saturate and smaller providers struggle to grow. “We actually think that’s quite exciting,” he said, because it lets network operators move faster with fewer, larger partners.
The full interview with Trevor van Zyl is available here. — © 2026 NewsCentral Media
