Remgro’s affordable fibre rollout starts
Remgro unit Dark Fibre Africa is now targeting low-income areas
Remgro’s fibre businesses have started pushing into low-income areas, which were largely ignored in the first wave of broadband rollouts across SA. Dark Fibre Africa (DFA), a subsidiary of Johann Rupert’s JSE-listed investment vehicle, was moving into affordable housing projects, targeting units with rents between R4,000 and R11,000, said DFA CEO Thinus Mulder. The fibre projects are being run by DFA’s SA Digital Villages unit, which installs and operates fibre-to-the-home connections. "It’s early days but we don’t really see a significant difference in uptake between the different LSM levels," Mulder said. This was because lower-income areas tended to have younger populations, "and that balances" demand between income segments. Meanwhile, Vumatel, which is Remgro’s latest fibre investment, is also starting to target low-income areas. Vumatel plans to build a fibre network in Johannesburg’s Alexandra township and has said in the past it could offer uncapped broadband services there ...
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