MTN South Africa has clarified that it has no plans to construct its own fibre optic network amid intensifying competition in the sector.
Instead, the company intends to pursue strategic partnerships or acquisitions to strengthen its presence in the fibre market. Ralph Mupita, CEO of MTN Group, emphasized that investing in developing a proprietary fibre network to compete directly with Vodacom would be unwise. Instead, he pointed to the importance of market consolidation through partnerships or acquisitions at the right price and timing. His remarks come amid ongoing speculation about a potential acquisition of Telkom by MTN, which has been a topic of industry chatter for some time.
While MTN has not ruled out the possibility of acquiring Telkom in the long term, Mupita clarified that no negotiations are currently underway with the semi-public operator. The company previously attempted to acquire Telkom in 2022, but talks fell through due to the lack of exclusivity guarantees. Telkom, which has been repositioning itself since then, boasts one of the largest fibre networks in South Africa, with over 170,000 km of fibre and coverage of around 1.4 million homes, including nearly 695,000 connected households.
Meanwhile, Vodacom has adopted a different approach, proposing a 14 billion rand deal in 2022 to acquire a 30% stake in Maziv, the parent company of Dark Fibre Africa and Vumatel. Although the transaction was blocked by the Competition Tribunal in October 2024, it received approval in August 2025, reflecting the aggressive market consolidation trends.
The South African fibre market is experiencing rapid growth, with the number of fixed fibre optic internet subscriptions rising from 1.02 million in 2019 to 2.46 million in 2024, according to ICASA. Despite this increase, penetration remains relatively low, indicating significant opportunities for expansion driven by digital transformation, remote working, and increased demand for bandwidth-intensive applications and digital services.
