the new name of the parent company of Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa that will soon, pending regulatory approvals, be 30% owned by Vodacom.
The entity, until now known as Infraco, will be led by CEO Dietlof Mare. The Vumatel and DFA brands will remain in the market, with the two companies, both led by Mare, becoming much more integrated., which means “together”.In a statement, Mare said: “While Vumatel and DFA continue to operate as separate entities, the intentional formation of this parent company was a strategic move to streamline operations and consolidate infrastructure assets seamlessly, under one aligned strategy.
The two companies, now under the Maziv umbrella, have formidable fibre assets: Vumatel passes about 1.6 million homes , while DFA has 13 800km of fibre deployed. Through its Vuma Reach and Vuma Key initiatives, Vumatel plans to double down on its deployment of low-cost, prepaid, uncapped fibre in areas where fibre hasn’t historically been deployed, Mare said.
The announcement of the new brand comes as CIVH, the Remgro- and New GX Capital-controlled parent of Infraco and Vodacom await approval by regulators, including the Competition Commission, of their plan to merge their assets.Vodacom will acquire 30% — with an option of up to 40% — of Maziv, while providing assets to the new entity worth R4.2-billion.