A major debt financing agreement promises to enable fiber provider MetroFibre Networx to bring more fiber connectivity to South Africa's underserved market.
According to media reports, leading financial institution Standard Bank Group said it has finalized a R5 billion ($295.5 million) debt financing package to support MetroFibre Networx's ambitious fiber optic data network deployment in South Africa.
The funding will be used to extend MetroFibre's fibre connectivity to homes and businesses in underserved communities, helping to expand its reach to an additional 500,000 homes across the country.
Metrofiber Networx is a Carrier Ethernet (CE 3.0) infrastructure company that provides highly managed fiber optic broadband connectivity in South Africa and is one of many companies targeting less affluent customers.
Openserve, Frogfoot and Vumatel are other well-known brands in a market where fiber network operators are lowering prices and increasing line speeds to win customers.
The news service ITWeb Africa notes that stiff competition is driving them into underserved markets such as towns and cities. There appear to be business opportunities as well.
On its website, MetroFibre describes its recently launched MetroConnect solution as a new "prepaid pay-as-you-go service" that provides your home with a 20Mbps fiber connection and the flexibility to top up when you need it, as often as you want. .
It also describes the new service as one of the ways in which the company aims to "move beyond the limitations that have kept millions of South African households from using fiber connections and left them dependent on expensive and limited mobile connections.
How long the competition will last is unclear, but judging by MetroFibre Networx's funding deal, there's still plenty of room to play in the market.
