20 September 2022

South African fibre internet provider RocketNet signed a partnership agreement with broadband provider Vumatel (Vuma) to reduce costs and improve internet access in the country.

In a statement, the two companies say they are offering free installations and providing service activation for households that are not yet connected to fibre. It is understood the bundle will save customers an upfront fee of R3,000 (US$173).

According to RocketNet, close collaboration between telecom partners is needed to accelerate the affordability and adoption of internet access for South African citizens, as it has become critical to the economy. According to DataReportal, South Africa had 41.19 million internet users as of January 2022, a penetration rate of 68.2%. That means 19.21 million South Africans were not connected to the internet at the beginning of 2022.

20 September 2022

Africell, the first fully foreign-owned telecom operator licensed to provide mobile services in Angola, has secured five million subscribers five months after launching commercial operations in the country.

At least half a million are active data subscribers, using the internet for social networking, e-commerce, transportation services, food delivery services, music and video streaming, among other things.

Africell officially started its commercial activities in the Angolan telecom market April 7, joining Angola Telecom, Unitel and Movicel. The commercial launch comes 14 months after the American group was awarded Angola's fourth unified telecommunications license. The licence was awarded as part of a national reform program initiated by the government to welcome more competition and innovation in key sectors of the economy, including telecommunications.