Telecommunications giant Vodacom is accelerating its rural connectivity programme, with more than 200 new rural network sites planned across all nine provinces in the year ahead.

The company has already provided 101 rural villages with second-generation (2G) and third-generation (3G) connectivity during the 2018 financial year, with “deep rural” deployments accounting for 20% to 30% of the company’s sites last year.

Depending on spectrum availability, demand and device penetration, Vodacom could upgrade the rural sites to fourth-generation (4G) technology at a later stage, Vodacom chief technology officer Andries Delport says.

Further, most of the mobile tower sites were allocated to small black-owned businesses to build and operate, with Vodacom leasing the sites.

Vodacom has started work on 82 of the 200 new 2G and 3G sites at villages selected through an extensive process that prioritised areas with no or low coverage, and where network capacity is most needed.

The targeted villages are predominantly in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

“In making its selection, Vodacom also looked at rural areas with places of interest that would benefit from better connectivity; including hospitals, schools, police stations and transport hubs,” he says.

Vodacom will prioritise 4G coverage in villages with clinics, Sassa pay points or other important landmarks.

“Vodacom’s rural coverage acceleration programme has seen us make significant progress in connecting villages which have never experienced the various economic and societal benefits of cellphone connectivity,” he adds.

Vodacom’s overall 4G coverage currently spans 81.5% of South Africa’s population. In the urban areas 4G coverage is about 91%, while, in the rural areas, it covers just over 48%.

The group’s 3G technology reaches 99.4% of the population and 99.9% is covered by 2G.

Delport also notes that, since April 1, Vodacom has invested R2-billion in capital expenditure (capex), bringing the total spend since January to R4.6-billion, including R500-million injected into its international operations.

Vodacom’s network capex spend in South Africa over the last six years totals R48.59-billion.