Telecommunications group Vodacom is continuing its plans to modernise its network and accelerate broadband coverage, particularly in townships and deep rural areas, as part of its long-term vision to have the widest and most reliable network accessible to all South Africans.

In line with this, Vodacom Eastern Cape is spending R500-million this financial year on modernising the region’s network, deploying energy projects and accelerating broadband coverage across the region.

This followed investment into the province of R500-million in the 2023/24 financial year, bringing the cumulative investment to R1-billion over two years to extend broadband coverage throughout the province.

“The bulk of the expenditure will go towards modernising the network infrastructure, followed by deploying new network sites, rolling out 5G networks and launching new LTE coverage, using the allotted spectrum from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa,” says Vodacom Eastern Cape Region managing executive Zakhele Jiyane.

This will enable better connectivity and improved network speeds for the end-user.

The region plans to focus this investment on the three bays of the Eastern Cape, namely Lower Bay, which includes Gqeberha, Makhanda and the Port Alfred area; Central Bay, with sites along the N10 and surrounding areas; and Upper Bay, including Qonce, Monti and up to the Kei Mouth area, to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas of the province.

“Our approach is to first build on our infrastructure to ensure that we can unlock the many opportunities afforded by the latest technology, such as 5G, and deliver a quality network experience for all our customers.”

A key focus for Vodacom is to deploy more sites in deep rural areas of the Eastern Cape, with the investment, in some areas, bringing connectivity to communities for the first time.

“Many individuals in South Africa’s remote, deep rural areas lack Internet access, which prevents them from taking advantage of the socioeconomic advantages of connectivity,” says Jiyane, who notes that deployment of the new base station sites in deep rural areas of the province will close the digital divide and enable hundreds of thousands of people in these villages to be part of the digital economy.

Vodacom Eastern Cape will also invest in security upgrades and enhance backup power supply at base station towers to mitigate the risks of increasing theft and vandalism at sites, as well as power disruptions on the national grid.

“These efforts will ensure network availability, to keep customers connected.”

Meanwhile, in June, Vodacom announced plans to inject more than R400-million over the current financial year to increase capacity and resilience and accelerate access to connectivity throughout the Free State and the Northern Cape, particularly in deep rural areas.

Vodacom Central Region spent R500-million during the 2023/24 financial year, following spend of R340-million in 2022/23 to expand broadband coverage across the region.

“We intend to use this network roll-out and deployment to help every community we serve to be part of the Digital Era and reap the rewards of digitalisation,” says Vodacom Central Region managing executive Evah Mthimunye.

The company’s network expansion last year enabled Internet access for many communities in the region for the first time.

To improve access and build on the momentum, Vodacom aims to further expand broadband coverage and fund network improvements.

About R250-million of the investment is allocated for radio access network projects, while R150-million will fund transmission, which includes the roll-out of microwave and fibre for network capacity and upgrades in the current financial year.

“This roll-out will enable better connectivity and improved network speeds for the end-user. Vodacom Central Region’s 3G population coverage is standing at 99% and 98.2% for 4G,” he says.

Over the financial year, the region will deploy more than 30 new deep rural sites, as well as more 5G sites.

Some of the major municipal districts benefiting from this deployment include Amajuba, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Fezile Dabi, Frances Baard, Joe Gqabi, John Taolo, Mangaung metropolitan, Namakwa, Ngaka Modiri Molema, Pixley Ka Seme, Siyanda, Thabo Mofutsanyane and Xhariep district municipalities.

Further, to ensure customers are connected during loadshedding or power outages, Vodacom Central Region is investing over R120-million into energy projects, including the procurement of generators, and increasing base station site power standby time.

Overall, the Vodacom Group continues to spend upwards of R11-billion yearly in capital expenditure (capex) in South Africa as it works to capture the market and transition to a technology company.

The 30-year-old company spent R11.12-billion across its South African operations during the year ended March 31, 2024.

This is the third year that capex in South Africa was above R11-billion, with the company steadily increasing its spending from R9.58-billion in 2019, R9.86-billion in 2020 and R10.08-billion in 2021, to R11.15-billion in 2022, R11.17-billion in 2023 and R11.12-billion in 2024.

“In South Africa, capex was directed at improving capacity and resilience of the network and increasing 5G roll-out. We have 99.1% 4G population coverage [compared with 98.5% in 2023] and have extended our 5G sites to 2 300,” concludes Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.