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Mobile network operator Vodacom South Africa, has announced that it invested over R450 million ($30.1 million) into the network and power backup upgrades across Mpumalanga province during the 2021/2022 financial year.
The telco says this significant investment has helped the region expand connectivity in deep rural areas and townships that had no connectivity before, adding that this has enabled hundreds of thousands of people to participate in the digital economy for the first time.
This coupled with a concerted effort to drive down the cost to communicate through innovative platforms such as Just4U and Just4YouTown, has lowered voice and data rates across the province, the company said in a statement.
The bulk of the capital expenditure was used to deploy new base stations sites, improve network capacity, perform power backup upgrades due to power outages, and roll out 5G to accelerate digital inclusion, explained Vodacom.
As a result, over 20 new deep rural sites in areas such as Amersfoort and Thuthukani were switched on.
Vodacom became the first network to launch 5G in Mpumalanga in Mbombela and to date the region has exceeded its 5G rollout targets by 200%.
Commenting, Zakhele Jiyane, Managing Executive for Vodacom Mpumalanga region said, “I am pleased with the positive results the team has produced under difficult market conditions during the FY 2021/2022. Our mobile networks are our key differentiator, and as a result, we continue to invest more money to expand networks to give our customers exceptional service. We became the first mobile network to launch 5G in Mpumalanga and continue to accelerate our rollout.”
Jiyane added, “This is a full demonstration of our commitment to invest in the latest network technology infrastructure to give our customers access to networks that provide fast speeds. Data traffic grew by 25% and voice 6% the highest in Vodacom SA due to attractive rates and network rollout. As a result, the region became the leader in voice network performance in SA as measured by in-house monthly benchmarking and network net promoter score (NPS).”
Cost to communicate remains a big issue in emerging markets like South Africa and as part of its strategy to drive digital inclusion for all, over the past three years, Vodacom has been cutting data and voice rates to drive adoption across all its market.
To drive prices down, the region adopted the use of personalised platforms, adopting a segment of one approach where they provide personalised offers based on customer needs and usage, explained Vodacom.
An example is Vodacom’s Just4U and Just4YouTown platforms which have shown a great adoption figure, with offers as 1GB valid for 7days at R19, a 76% discount, or even 1GB WhatsApp + 500MB FB for only R35, representing the most competitive social offer in the region.
“I am delighted of the strides we’ve made as a business to make data prices and smart devices more affordable, truly democratising the access to the internet and leading to a growth of over 18% in the number of smart devices in our region. Our customer consideration scores, including NPS, have been on the rise, with customers scoring us better on measures such as value for money as they see the overall value we provide, from service to network to price,” concludes Jiyane.
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