Vodacom announced today that it has invested over R450 million into the network and power backup upgrades across the Mpumalanga region during the 2021/2022 financial year.
Vodacom said this significant investment into the network has helped the region expand connectivity in deep rural areas and townships that had no connectivity before.
“This has enabled hundreds of thousands of people to participate in the digital economy for the first time,” the company claims.
“This coupled with a concerted effort to drive down the cost to communicate through innovative platforms such as Just4U and Just4YouTown, has lowered voice and data rates across the province.”
Vodacom said the bulk of the capital expenditure was used to deploy new base stations sites, improve network capacity, perform power backup upgrades due to power outages, and roll out 5G to accelerate digital inclusion.
“As a result, over 20 new deep rural sites in areas such as Amersfoort and Thuthukani were switched on. Vodacom became the first network to launch 5G in Mpumalanga in Mbombela, and continues to extend coverage throughout the province, including Ermelo, Secunda, Leslie and Emalahleni. The region has exceeded its 5G rollout targets by 200%.”
Zakhele Jiyane, Managing Executive for Vodacom Mpumalanga region commented:
“I am pleased with the positive results the team has produced under difficult market conditions during the FY 2021/2022. Our mobile networks are our key differentiator, and as a result, we continue to invest more money to expand networks to give our customers exceptional service. We became the first mobile network to launch 5G in Mpumalanga and continue to accelerate our rollout,” Jiyane explains.
“This is a full demonstration of our commitment to invest in the latest network technology infrastructure to give our customers access to networks that provide fast speeds. Data traffic grew by 25% and voice 6% the highest in Vodacom SA due to attractive rates and network rollout. As a result, the region became the leader in voice network performance in SA as measured by in-house monthly benchmarking and network net promoter score (NPS).”
Cost to communicate remains a big issue in emerging markets like South Africa. As part of its strategy to drive digital inclusion for all, over the past three years,
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