Investec heads loan to Vox to expand South African FTTH
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Investec heads loan to Vox to expand South African FTTH

Vox Frogfoot South Africa.jpg

South African fibre operator Vox Telecom is to expand its fibre network beyond the major cities of the country.

Funding for the project has come from UK/South African bank Investec, which until two years ago was a significant investor in the operator.

Vox CEO Jacques du Toit said the expansion would “not only stimulate the home market, but also increase business productivity and efficiency”.

Last year Capacity reported that Vox, which trades under the Frogfoot brand, was working with rival South African operator Telkom, in competition with Telkom’s own last-mile subsidiary, Openserve, to expand fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services.

Neither Investec nor Vox have put a value on the latest investment, which comes in the form of a loan from a consortium of banks led by Investec.

Du Toit said, according to local media: “The fibre telecommunications market is competitive and the right financing partner for growth is essential. In fact, as working from home becomes the norm, so too does the need for fast, affordable and reliable internet connectivity. This additional capex allows us to continue to provide communities with fast and reliable fibre at home and in the workplace as demand continues to grow.”

South African news site ITWeb said this week that Frogfoot has doubled the size of its network, expanding its footprint to smaller towns across the country. It has also grown its ISP network by 30%, working with local ISPs to enable users to get access to high-speed connectivity.

 

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