MTN to deploy national fibre network

The South African cellular operator MTN says it plans to spend up to ZAR1.3 billion (USD180 million) rolling out a 5,000km nationwide fixed line network. It will use its wireline infrastructure to cut the costs of providing backhaul capacity for its cellular network; it also plans to introduce converged fixed-cellular services for its subscribers and offer bandwidth to corporate customers. The firm has completed a ZAR10 million pilot project linking Sandton and Rosebank in Johannesburg, according to Business Report. MTN plans to partner with a rival operator such as Neotel or Vodacom to construct the national fibre network.