Telecommunications group Vodacom has switched on new base stations in 21 deep rural villages across the Free State and the Northern Cape under its Rural Coverage Acceleration Programme.

The 21 new third-generation- and fourth-generation-enabled sites will provide connectivity in some of the big local municipalities in the provinces for the first time.

The new sites are the Ubuntu, Joe Morolong, Siyancuma, Tokologo, Mangaung, Tswaing, Ga-Segonyana, Kagisono-Molopo, Dikgatlong, Matjhabeng, Sol Plaatjie, Dihlabeng and Naledi local municipalities.

“The new sites are going to provide faster Internet speeds, greater capacity and help to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas of the Free State and the Northern Cape provinces,” says Vodacom Central Region managing executive Tsatsi Mthimunye.

The group has embarked on a critical network drive as part of the rural network expansion programme to deal with coverage gaps in deep rural and township areas.

The region has spent more than R207-million to maintain and upgrade network infrastructure across the province during the 2020/21 financial period, with a total of 40 new sites deployed across the region.

About R67-million was spent in the 2020/21 financial year to deploy new sites in rural areas in Bethlehem, Fouriesburg, Clocolan, Fauresmith, Griekwastad, Bothaville, Kroonstad, Postmasburg, Jagersfontein, Parys, QwaQwa, Prieska, Kgalagadi and Theunissen.

Vodacom Central Region, which covers the Free State and the Northern Cape, plans to invest in more sites over the next year.

“GSMA research shows that, while the availability of high-speed broadband is critical to deep rural development, deep rural communities are lagging behind in terms of broadband connectivity, excluding many from digital transformation and access to the digital economy.”

All the sites were built by black-owned small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) as part of the SMME Incubation programme, aimed at developing and supporting black-owned and managed SMMEs in the Free State and the Northern Cape.