Nokia and Fibertime work together to expand South African broadband access

Nokia has announced that South African internet service provider Fibertime will deploy Nokia’s fibre solution to rapidly expand broadband access to underserved regions of South Africa.

Fibertime will quickly connect its next 1.5 million customers, leveraging Nokia’s Lightspan FX optical line terminals (OLTs) and Wi-Fi 6-enabled optical network terminals (ONTs). Nokia’s technologies are key to enabling Fibertime’s flagship product: ZAR5 (US$0.28) a day for uncapped, unthrottled internet.

As Nokia points out, currently less than 85% of South Africans have access to high-speed broadband, leaving many reliant on costly mobile plans that are up to 70 times more expensive per gigabit than fibre.

Nokia says that, through its fibre solution, Fibertime will unlock a new wave of affordable, reliable, pay-as-you-go broadband, empowering local communities with increased access to education, employment and business opportunities. The deployment will help create a semi-mobile network within underserved areas, allowing end users to access high-speed broadband services from anywhere in the community, not just their homes or businesses.

The fibre deployment will initially cover Cape Town, Johannesburg, Gqeberha, Mangaung and Stellenbosch, with plans to rapidly expand into additional countries and communities.

As part of the agreement, Fibertime will deploy 500,000 Nokia Wi-Fi 6 enabled ONTs over the next 36 months, prioritising homes in underserved areas. Fibertime will also leverage Nokia’s ONT Easystart to automate and simplify the ONT activation process, helping to streamline deployments.

Fibertime is also working on an advanced network upgrade powered by Nokia’s Altiplano platform to further drive automation and scale. In addition Nokia and Fibertime are also working on new R&D projects to develop technologies that enhance connectivity and enable operations in Africa’s most remote areas.

Alan Knott-Craig, Founder of Fibertime, says: “With Nokia’s support, we’re confident in our ability to reach 1.5 million homes within the next five years. We’re unlocking a massive, untapped market of 13 million homes in South Africa that are ready for affordable, quality internet.” He adds: “That market will need approximately ZAR60 billion (US$3.34 billion) of investment over the coming decade and will generate reliable returns for investors.” Developing Telecoms