Orange, Vodacom said in talks on African infrastructure deals
Vodacom Group is in discussions with France’s Orange about a strategic partnership in Africa to explore infrastructure deals to help keep down costs on the continent, people familiar with the matter said.
The telecommunications companies are looking at agreements in overlapping markets including Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and reviewing where there are other opportunities to work together, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
The talks involve potential agreements to share infrastructure and jointly build connectivity to rural areas, they said. No final decisions have been made and the two companies may not reach an agreement, they said. Vodacom, Africa’s largest mobile operator, is also in talks with service providers in other countries that it has a presence in, said the people.
“We are looking at partnerships with other mobile operators and financial investors in countries where we operate,” a representative for Vodacom said in an emailed statement. “Our aim is to potentially alleviate the costs of rollout and rural connectivity, helping to address cost to communicate and narrow the digital divide.” The spokesperson said the company would comment on specific agreements once they’ve been finalised.
A representative for Orange didn’t have an immediate comment.
Vodacom and Orange are each working to expand to capture the market’s exploding growth — particularly for mobile services where young, tech-savvy users are spending more time on devices to access everything from entertainment to financial services. The African businesses are proving to be growth drivers for each group’s European parent companies.
Still, it’s an expensive exercise, especially when building out infrastructure to more rural areas where capital returns are usually lower. Joint ventures between operators would ease that financial burden.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Yale Lifting Solutions is a leading supplier of lifting and material handling equipment in Southern Africa. Yale offers a wide range of quality...
VISIT SHOWROOM
The SAIMM started as a learned society in 1894 after the invention of the cyanide process that saved the South African gold mining industry of the...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
