Fibertime will deploy Nokia's fiber solution to rapidly expand broadband access to underserved regions of South Africa, increasing coverage to five cities and 14 townships. The initiative aims to connect 1.5 million households using Nokia's fiber solutions, including Lightspan FX Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) and Wi-Fi 6-enabled Optical Network Terminals (ONTs).
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Expanding Access to Underserved Areas
According to the official release, Fibertime's flagship service will offer "R5 a day" uncapped, unthrottled internet, providing an accessible alternative to costly mobile data plans, which can be up to 70 times more expensive per gigabit.
Currently, less than 85 percent of South Africans have access to high-speed broadband. The fiber deployment will initially cover Cape Town, Johannesburg, Gqeberha, Mangaung, and Stellenbosch, with plans to expand further across the region.
Nokia’s Technology to Support Deployments
As part of the agreement, Fibertime will deploy 500,000 Nokia Wi-Fi 6-enabled ONTs over the next 36 months, focusing on underserved homes. Nokia's ONT Easystart will streamline installation, while the Altiplano platform will support network scalability through automation. Both companies are also exploring R&D initiatives to enhance connectivity for Africa's remote areas, Nokia said in a statement on Monday.
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Bridge the Digital Divide
Nokia, said: "Our scalable OLT portfolio provides flexible coverage for both densely populated and rural areas. Paired with our Wi-Fi 6-enabled ONTs, we enable fast, automated onboarding. Together, these solutions allow Fibertime to speed up deployments and provide the capacity to bring thousands of customers online at once."
Fibertime added: "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. That market will need approximately R60 billion of investment over the coming decade and will generate reliable returns for investors. The market opportunity is akin to that presented to mobile operators when they expanded into prepaid markets."
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This rollout promises to unlock new opportunities for education, employment, and business in areas that have long been underserved, Nokia said.
