The government has been looking at rationalising and selling non-performing state-owned entities including Broadband Infraco, which provides high-speed fixed-line infrastructure. DFA's chief strategy officer, Reshaad Sha, said the company would consider participating should the state-owned entity come up for sale, as it would widen its coverage nationally.
"DFA has been concentrating on building metro networks, but to have large-scale coverage, we will need to partner with a player that has national, long-distance coverage," he said.
Broadband Infraco confirmed recently that it had received letters of interest, but did not disclose from which companies. According to Bloomberg, Vodacom is also interested in buying the company.
DFA deploys fibre optic cables and sells capacity to a variety of clients including mobile network operators and internet service providers. It has thousands of fibre routes in major and small metros, and also fibre linking undersea cables in Durban and Cape Town.
Sha said DFA was seeking new growth opportunities beyond South African borders. "We have identified top 10 capital cities that we believe would have significant demand for fibre," Sha said. But he said DFA was being cautious, given the challenges faced by many countries as a result of the depreciation of many currencies and economic downturn.
Fibre to the home (FTTH) and businesses is also a focus area for DFA. The company bought a minority stake in SA Digital Villages (SADV) in a deal that will accelerate this. Moreover, SADV will reposition itself as a wholesale, open-access FTTH service provider.
Sha said while there was a "land grab" in the FTTH market, DFA was taking a more methodical approach, targeting gated communities and high-density areas. He added that the company - through SADV - would focus its "efforts in the FTTH market to deliver open-access, high-speed connectivity to our service provider customer base".
Source: BDpro
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