Vodacom Business has deployed a Mobile Private Network (MPN) at Sasol’s synthetic fuel facility in Secunda, Mpumalanga. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in leveraging advanced technology to enhance operational efficiency and connectivity in the industrial sector.

"As part of Sasol's digitalisation journey, there is a focus on utilising technology to improve processes that impact safety and efficiency across our facilities,” says Victor Bester, Sasol Executive Vice President of Operations and Projects. “This initiative allows us to accelerate these efforts through improved connectivity and control of the mobile network deployed at our Secunda production facility.  Our collaboration with Vodacom Business creates opportunities for us to do things differently and grow our digital maturity. We look forward to the positive impact this advanced connectivity solution will have on our operations.”

Peter Malebye, Managing Executive at Vodacom Business says  Vodacom’s MPN offers future proof, secure and robust connectivity so that businesses can address key safety, efficiency, and visibility concerns. By leveraging a single network to create a connected environment, be it a mine or a giant petrochemical facility, organisations can better understand key performance drivers, reduce operational outages and extend asset life.

“Our MPN solution provides a dedicated, secure, and high-performance mobile network tailored to meet the specific needs of Sasol's operations. It delivers the scalability and reliability required to ensure continuity for its mission-and business-critical applications,” says Malebye. He adds that the partnership with Sasol represents Vodacom’s commitment to innovating with our clients, “helping them stay connected today and supporting their digitalisation into the future.”

“When all of this comes together, an organisation can ultimately bring in other innovations, such as digital twins or enable remote and autonomous operations to improve planning,” adds Malebye.

If Sasol wanted to connect everyone working across its massive operation (around 3 000 people) using Wi-Fi, for example, they would have had to roll out a huge amount of infrastructure across the site, which is not only time-consuming and extremely costly but it’s also highly inefficient. The MPN integrates Vodacom's robust network infrastructure with Sasol's systems, enhancing connectivity to employees, equipment and assets. In addition, the solution enables real-time and remote monitoring, improves safety and compliance, streamlines asset management, boosts collaboration and optimises overall operational efficiency.

With an MPN solution, it’s possible to deliver optimal connectivity in regions where public networks may be unreliable or unavailable. An MPN solution differs from a public mobile network in that it provides exclusive access to a particular facility or business, which ensures that the network is optimised for their specific use case. Other key advantages of an MPN solution include greater control, customisability, increased security and reduced latency.

Additionally, the MPN architecture ensures that data never leaves the site, providing low latency and high uptime and making it easier to build redundancy. With a facility like Sasol’s, it’s always mission-critical, which is why having an on-site local network that offers secure and reliable connectivity and enables seamless communication is important.

“While MPNs are becoming increasingly relevant in a South African context, they are not yet as widespread as traditional public mobile networks,” adds Malebye. “Vodacom Business has been a pioneer in developing tailored MPN offerings for our clients in the southern African region. When Sasol turned to us to embark on this digital journey, it was a privilege for us to walk alongside them and provide them with solutions they needed to transform their operations while making a positive impact on our country’s industrial sector.”