CIVH ANNOUNCES THE CREATION OF A NEW INFRASTRUCTURE COMPANY

COMMUNITY Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH) said yesterday that its two fibre network assets – Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) and Vumatel – would be managed under a new infrastructure company. CIVH is the Remgro and New GX-controlled parent company of fibre infrastructure operators DFA and Vumatel. The infrastructure entity’s name has not yet been announced. “This decision is a strategic step to meet ongoing customer and business requirements and increase open-access offerings across the networks,” CIVH said. Although DFA and Vumatel would be incorporated into this new infrastructure company, CIVH said each business would initially continue to operate separately. Dietlof Mare and Byron Billett, the current executives of fibre firm Vumatel, have been appointed chief executive and chief financial officer, respectively, of the new company. Andries Delport would continue as chief executive of DFA and an integral part of the infrastructure company management committee. Raymond Ndlovu, chief executive at CIVH, said: “The fibre to the home market is constantly evolving, especially in the open-access environment, and fibre network operators have to be able to evolve at the same pace. By establishing our new infrastructure company, we can place both DFA and Vumatel in a position to meet this developing demand for fibre connectivity, and continue providing innovative products and solutions to the market.” He said the establishment of this holding company would enable Vumatel and DFA to expand their open-access network infrastructures to meet customer requirements, with the ultimate goal of connecting more of South Africa to highcapacity fixed-line infrastructure.

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