Standard Bank of South Africa will provide funds to the country’s telco Vumatel to help the high speed fibre broadband provider ramp up delivery and expand into new markets within the country. The bank said the deal is likely one of the largest debt capital raising-based deals of its kind in the fibre-to-household industry to date. The bank will be the lead financier of the company in its effort to expand its business base. Niel Schoeman, CEO for Vumatel said the company needs to ensure that it invests in long term sustainable infrastructure that can support the growth in demand for high speed connectivity. That is why it plans to invest R3 billion over the next two years in fibre optic networks to service the residential sector. The package, with an agreed draw-down facility, will facilitate the growth of Vumatel which launched its first project in Parkhurst, Johannesburg in 2015. The company has since embarked on rolling out fibre broadband to many other Gauteng suburbs. Besides, it is also planning to expand in Cape Town. The company has set a target of reaching as many as 100,000 homes by the end of 2016.
