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The partnership could help reduce costs and increase rural connectivity
Major African network operators Orange and Vodacom are in discussions over an Africa infrastructure sharing deal, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Anonymous sources hint that the two companies are seeking sharing agreements in their overlapping markets, including Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This would allow both operators to increase their coverage in affected countries and reduce the need to build additional infrastructure in some areas.
In addition to this sharing agreement, the two companies are also reviewing other opportunities to work together, according to the sources.
“Our aim is to potentially alleviate the costs of rollout and rural connectivity, helping to address cost to communicate and narrow the digital divide,” a Vodacom spokesperson said to Bloomberg.
The deal is not yet finalised and could still fall through, said the sources.. Vodacom did, however, confirm that it will detail the specifics of the deal once they have been made.
The report notably suggested that Vodacom is also in talks with other African operators over similar sharing deals, but again these are yet to be finalised.
As Vodacom celebrated its 30th anniversary this month, it also passed the milestone of 200 million customers across eight countries, which was confirmed last week during its annual results publication for the year ended 31 March 2024.
The group’s revenue increased 26.4% up to R151 billion ($8.2 billion) as a result of data revenue and new services (including financial services); however, the company faced challenges such as start-up losses in Ethiopia, higher interest rates, and foreign exchange losses.
The company’s deeper dive into financial services has helped it reach 78.9 million financial services customers, transacting $1.1 billion a day.
“This was a year characterised by strong commercial momentum, despite facing several precarious economic headwinds, including a 20% higher effective interest rate and foreign exchange rate pressures,” said CEO Shameel Joosub in the investor’s call.
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