Stellenbosch-based HeroTel – which claims to be the largest provider of wireless broadband services in South Africa – has acquired a 25th wireless internet service provider (WISP) as it seeks to consolidate its position and expand rural coverage. According to ITWeb, the latest deal involves the takeover of LCom Communications, which operates in the Eastern Cape. HeroTel chairman Alan Knott-Craig Jr. told ITWeb: ‘Our goal is to facilitate internet access across the entire country, not just to those living in urban areas. LCom has a strong presence in the former Transkei region, all the way up to Mthatha. We are going to assist LCom in expanding this network even deeper into the interior. LCom represents everything that is exciting about this industry. It services farmers, businesses, townsfolk and rural establishments in an area where few internet options exist.’
TeleGeography notes that HeroTel’s latest deal follows on from a trio of acquisitions in October 2017. Last month the telco acquired Cape Town-based Sonic Telecoms, IGEN Wireless in the Eastern Cape and Hitech in Mpumalanga, meaning it now has coverage of Gauteng, the North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the Eastern Cape.