The networks are built. Growth now depends on who sells the connections.
South Africa has built a lot of fiber. ICASA reported 3.01 million FTTH/FTTB subscriptions in September 2025, up 22% year on year. (An estimate suggests that around 5.4 million premises have access to fiber.) A directional estimate puts about 5.4 million premises within reach of fiber. (Roughly 2.4 million of those homes have no active connection, meaning no paying customer.) Roughly 2.4 million of those homes have no active connection meaning no paying customer.
What does FVNO mean to fiber operators
A Fiber Virtual Network Operator (FVNO) sells fiber services without owning the access network. It runs a neutral layer between open-access networks and retail brands, so banks, retailers, insurers, MVNOs and ISPs connect once instead of integrating with each fiber network operator (FNO). The FNO keeps ownership and control of the network. The retail brand owns the customer.
Distribution is the new bottleneck
(Most fiber costs are paid upfront, so each new connection on an existing street brings additional revenue without major new investment.) Most fiber cost is paid upfront, so each new connection on an existing street adds recurring revenue without matching capex. Vumatel, one of South Africas leading fiber operators is the perfect example. In the year to March 2025, the operator grew homes passed by 2% and subscribers by 18.3%, while revenue rose 8.4%.
(Open access made it easier for operators to share infrastructure) Open access solved infrastructure sharing. Entering the market still requires agreements, ordering, provisioning, assurance and billing across many networks. This favors established telecom operators and keeps brands with millions of loyal customers on the sidelines.
What changes for the market
For FNOs, an FVNO brings new sales channels onto networks already built. New customers arrive from outside existing ISP pools. Each one-point rise in national take rate equals roughly 54,000 extra activations. Five points equals about 270,000.
For retail brands, fixed connectivity becomes a distribution business instead of a construction project. A bank or retailer bundles fiber with accounts, loyalty points or mobile plans and sells through channels it already runs.
For South Africa, competition moves to the service layer. Less overbuild in served suburbs frees expansion capital for peri-urban and underserved areas.
Prove it first
(A good first step is to test the model with one FNO, one retail partner with a large customer base and a clear way of working.)The sensible first step is a controlled pilot with one FNO footprint, one high-reach retail offer and one defined operating model. (Measure the increase in take rate, customer acquisition cost, activation time, churn and profitability per home passed.) Measure take-rate lift, acquisition cost, order-to-live time, churn and contribution margin per home passed. (Scale once the results show that the model works.) Scale only after proof.
The next phase will not be won in trenches. Growth goes to the operators and brands who turn existing networks into paying connections.
Sources: ICASA State of the ICT Sector Report, March 2026. Remgro 2025 Integrated Annual Report. Premises figures are directional estimates.
