Optical fibre connectivity provider Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) has expressed interest in buying state-owned Broadband Infraco, which provides high-speed fixed-line infrastructure. The government has been looking at rationalising and selling non-performing state-owned entities, with Broadband Infraco identified as one such company.
Reshaad Sha (pictured), DFA's chief strategy officer, has said that should the state-owned entity come up for sale, DFA would be interested in purchasing as this would allow it to widen its coverage nationally. Sha further noted that while DFA has thus far concentrated on building metro networks, in order to have large-scale coverage it needs to partner with a player that has national, long-distance coverage.
DFA has, over the years, invested several billion into its network roll-out, having to date built more than 9,000 km of ducting infrastructure nationwide.
According to reports, Broadband Infraco has received several letters of interest. Vodacom is also interested in buying the company.
