Link Africa

LINK AFRICA

CONNECTIVITY

IS KEY Craig Carthy, Chief Executive Officer of Link Africa, talks us through one of South Africa’s fastest-growing providers of costeffective, high-speed, open-access telecommunications infrastructure Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Lewis Bush My view is that communications has evolved into a utility – you can’t live without it.”

Fibre optic is the future of broadband, technology which continues to develop in correlation with increased demand for networking speed and efficiency.

As such, an increasing number of developing countries have stepped up the deployment of fibre optic networks in order to build better ICT infrastructure and stimulate economic development.

Aiming to become South Africa’s largest open-access provider of highspeed broadband services, Link Africa has built, owned and operated fibre optic networks in major metropolitan cities across the country since 2013.

From Pretoria and Johannesburg to Cape Town and Durban, Link Africa has a strong fibre footprint that allows consumers to choose their preferred Internet Service Provider (ISP).

“South Africa is a bit of an outlier because it’s significantly wealthier than the rest of the African 2 | Africa Outlook issue 93

continent,” observes Chief Executive Officer, Craig Carthy, who has an extensive background in ICT and telecommunications. “The sector here in South Africa is probably as sophisticated, mature and robust as you would find it in Europe, which is not representative of what you find in the rest of Africa.”

With the communications sector experiencing tremendous growth, Link Africa is capitalising on exciting opportunities in South Africa.

“We’ve got roughly 14 million houses in South Africa, of which 12 million rely entirely on cell phone connectivity. It’s a bit of a strange market, but we have the opportunity as a dominant player of getting communications to become a utility just like it is in the developed world.”

EXCLUSIVE TECHNOLOGY Utilising light to transfer data through means of glass cabling, Link Africa’s innovative and patented open-access infrastructure provides the fastest and most reliable internet connectivity currently available on the market.

Link Africa has the exclusive South African rights to Fibre Optic Cable in Underground Systems (FOCUS™), a patented fibre optic cable technology deployed in storm water and sewer systems.

Through the deployment of FOCUS™ technology, Link Africa uses sewage networks to run fibre cabling through existing infrastructure.

TECHNOLOGY

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LINK AFRICA

Leader Optec Leader Optec has been in operation for more than 10 years, having opened its doors in Durban for trade in 2010. Since then, Leader Optec has opened a branch in Johannesburg with a fully functioning warehouse servicing its Gauteng and international customers.

Leader Optec’s head office and warehouse is located at 9 Blessing Ninela Road, Unit 23, Fischer Park, Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal. In Gauteng, Leader Optec has recently moved to more strategic premises in Centurion, bringing the number of operational facilities to two in South Africa.

HOW FAR HAS SOUTH AFRICA COME IN TERMS OF INTERNET PENETRATION AND CONNECTIVITY? AVERAGE SPEED – The average internet speed in South Africa is 3.7 mbps (megabits per second).

USERS – Internet penetration in South Africa stands at 52 percent. There are more than 28 million internet users in a population of over 54 million.

THE FAST FEW – South Africa leads the way in terms of peak connection speeds in Africa. On average, South Africa’s fastest connections reach 18.9 mbps.

ON THE WORLD STAGE – With over 28 million users, South Africa is the world’s 25th biggest web consumer.

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“The patent enables us to insert cables into sewage pipes, which we use as a sleeve or a conduit,” Carthy explains. “The very basis is that somebody else has put a pipe in the ground, and we just stick our cable inside that pipe.

“It means it’s substantially faster for us to install cables because there’s no digging involved, it’s more reliable because sewage pipes are very deep in the ground, a lot thicker than a piece of plastic, and it’s substantially cheaper to install than it would be doing it the conventional way.”

Infrastructure aside, Link Africa, who employs around 300 people, relies on its staff and downstream partners to make haste towards its belief in country-wide open access to its fibre network.

“Partners are really important for us because we have a collaborative view of the world,” Carthy emphasises. “We don’t try and do everything ourselves, we know what we’re good and what we’re not so good at, so we work with partners whose specific strengths in certain geographical areas enable us to commercialise and operate this very big network that we’ve got. It’s a

We as Leader Optec provide our customers with passive components for telecommunications network building and products which provide end to end fibre optic connections. All products supplied by Leader Optec exceed industry standards for all telecommunications providers and include an array of product offerings such as: • • • • • • • •

Patchcords Mid-couplers Splitters Pigtails FTTx boxes Fibre optic dome joints Manholes Fibre optic cabling

Leader Optec has a vast number of customers stretching across the country. We pride ourselves in the impeccable service we offer not only to our local customers but also to our international customers in the continent of Africa, in countries such as; Zimbabwe, Congo, Zambia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

We achieve this by sourcing the best products throughout the globe, and in turn offering a higher quality product which cannot be rivalled by our competitors, meaning that we can offer our loyal customers the most competitive rates in the market.

info@lederoptec.co.za

Enhancing

Connectivity Leader Optec is a Fibre Optic focused distributor: • 3 Warehouses across South Africa (JHB, DBN, CPT) • Pre-connected FTTx Solutions • Local manufacturing • Stock management services • FTTx planning and consulting • Customised manufacturing and design of cable and joints

info@leaderoptec.co.za | +27 (0)87 073 8022

www.leaderoptec.co.za

LINK AFRICA

FOCUS™ – FIBRE OPTIC CABLE IN UNDERGROUND SYSTEMS • FOCUS™ uses existing underground municipal services, such as sewer and storm water systems, and is non-disruptive and non-invasive.

• FOCUS™ is tested and certified with consistently superior network availability compared to traditional trenched fibre solutions.

• Link Africa combines FOCUS™ with robotic drilling technology, allowing it to reach areas that other fibre optic networks are unable to easily reach.

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really important part of the way that we look at the world.”

Universal access means making the whole Link Africa network available to all people in all metropolitan areas, as well as surrounding towns.

To reach all citizens of the country, rich or poor, Link Africa’s vision is to make high-speed telecommunications infrastructure available to all licensed operators and service providers. With an existing network of infrastructure that currently only runs at around eight percent capacity, Link Africa certainly has the potential to do just that.

“We just focus entirely on the infrastructure side of the telecoms value chain, and we service those who are licensed to provide communication services,” Carthy outlines. “We use the same infrastructure to provide services to all three segments – mobile phone operators, business, and residential – and we take care of three of the

world’s top 10 telecommunications companies.”

Link Africa is the biggest service provider for Dimension Data, an information technology subsidiary based in Johannesburg wholly owned

by NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone), as well as servicing the likes of Vodafone and MTN, the largest mobile network operator in Africa.

As the beneficiary of a 10-year contract with NTT, Link Africa is now the Japanese telecommunications company’s preferred communications service provider in South Africa all the way until June 2030.

“Not only does this contract get us very close to NTT, who are the third biggest telecoms company in the world, but it also gives us a large footprint in the commercial retail space here in South Africa,” reveals Carthy. “It was a great deal for us, and the contract really catapulted the business.”

TECHNOLOGY

AFRICA OUTLOOK: WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES LINK AFRICA STAND OUT FROM THE COMPETITION? Craig Carthy, Chief Executive Officer: “It relates to the ownership of the business. We’re the only telecommunications company in South Africa whose founders have still got significant skin in the game and retain ownership in the business, whereas our competitors are typically owned by big corporations or private equity firms.

“We’ve had some serious challenges with our capital structure, and those have really made us get very creative in making a little go a long way.

“As a result of that, we’re very nimble. In summary, we’ve got as big a network as everybody else, yet our balance sheet is substantially healthier and we haven’t been corporatised, so we still have a number of founders managing our business and we’re blessed with the agility that comes with that.”

IMPROVED FIBRE COVERAGE The recent acquisition of Internet Solutions’ fibre optic network, which spans over 400 points of presence across South Africa, more than doubled Link Africa’s network reach to 8,500 kilometres, making the company one of the country’s biggest fibre network providers and allowing it to expand fibre into new, uncharted terrain.

Link Africa’s reach now rivals providers such as Openserve, Dark Fibre Africa and Liquid Telecoms, with the acquisition transforming

the company into a key player in the South African fibre market.

It also provides a platform for Link Africa to expand GSM coverage across all provinces, to improve fibre coverage in most major commercial and retail centres across the country, and to help provide substantially more affordable fibre services.

Moreover, the deal leaves Link Africa strategically well-placed as 5G looms large on the horizon. “We expect to be very well placed to support mobile network operators in their 5G rollouts,” Carthy says.

Further to this, Link Africa is developing a pre-payment model to provide communication services to the less affluent.

“We effectively give pre-paid service to those who can’t afford to enter into fixed monthly commitments,” Carthy elaborates.

“Along with our partner, a leading supplier of electricity to

underserviced areas, we’ve developed this electricity/telecoms joint product solution over the last two years, and we’re very excited about launching that on a much larger scale in 2022.”

It’s clear that the fibre industry has the potential to accelerate the digital inclusion, economic growth, dynamism and ingenuity that Africa so desperately needs.

A key part of that is staring Link Africa right in the face – unleashing the economic power of the digital world by providing high-quality, reliable and affordable connectivity.

Tel: (Cape Town) 021 722 0001 info@linkafrica.co.za leads@linkafrica.co.za

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LINK AFRICA Durban 43 Island Circle Riverhorse Valley Durban Tel: 010 020 0410 Gauteng Unit 19/20 Rambo Junxion 400 Roan Crescent Corporate Park North Randjies Park Midrand Tel: 087 980 9994 Cape Town Unit 5 7 Milan Street CTI Business Park Airport Industrial Tel: 021 722 0001 info@linkafrica.co.za leads@linkafrica.co.za

PRODUCED BY AFRICA OUTLOOK MAGAZINE