Africa’s leading provider of wireless, data-only services plans soon to launch a mobile service, one of its shareholders said. Rain, which provides wireless, data-only services, plans soon to launch a mobile service.
This is according to Rain investor African Rainbow Capital Investments, which said on Thursday that the move will allow Rain to compete with South Africa’s mobile operators in voice calls, too.
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ARC Investments, which holds a 20.3% interest in Rain, said the provider will use the newly acquired spectrum bought last year in an auction to launch its mobile service, without giving any other details on the plan.
Earlier this year, Rain and number-three mobile network provider Telkom terminated discussions about a potential acquisition of Rain after the parties decided that a suitable transaction was not possible at that time.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The venture capitalist and major investor in South Africa’s wireless broadband startup Rain, Michael Jordaan, has said on Tuesday that consolidation in South Africa’s telecommunications market is inevitable. His remarks, during a webinar hosted by PSG, come two weeks after Rain and Telkom walked away from talks about a potential combination of the businesses.
Jordaan, speaking to webinar host Alishia Seckam, said he is unable to comment on why Rain’s talks with Telkom didn’t lead to a transaction. However, he said: “While the Telkom merger hasn’t come off, it doesn’t mean it can’t happen in the future.
“Consolidation in the telco industry is going to happen. In most markets, you have two or three big players,” Jordaan said.
Michael Jordaan
It is likely that the industry’s smaller players – which, to his mind, include Telkom – will need to consolidate to take the fight to the industry’s two biggest players, Vodacom and MTN. Other than Telkom, Rain and Cell C will likely need to play a role in such consolidation, he predicted.
On 11 January, Telkom and Rain have walked away from a transaction that could have seen the JSE-listed telecommunications operator buying the wireless broadband upstart.
MTN Group and Telkom had been in preliminary discussions about a deal of their own, but the former walked away when the latter indicated it was willing to engage in a discussion with Rain about a deal. Although MTN had said it was not after exclusivity in the talks, company insiders said they felt that having Rain involved in the discussions would unnecessarily complicate what would already be a difficult deal to get done.
‘Logical alternative’
“After initial discussions, but prior to any due diligence, the parties have decided that a suitable transaction is not possible at this time,” Telkom said about the termination of the talks with Rain.
Rain had pitched a deal as a more logical combination than one involving MTN and Telkom.
“It is a logical alternative to simply selling to MTN and would also be consistent with the pro-competitive policies of government. The merger would bring together the considerable infrastructure and mobile businesses of Telkom and the successful, new-age 4G and 5G businesses of Rain,” Rain has said previously.
“Telkom continues to execute its strategy to unlock value for shareholders and will provide an update on progress in this regard in due course,” Telkom said on 11 January, without elaborating.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
In a big observers say is a direct message to Africa’s biggest telecoms company, MTN, a smaller rival, Rain has rolled-out Africa’s first commercial standalone 5G network – powered by Huawei. The South African data-only provider currently covers suburbs in Cape Town including Sea Point, Claremont, Goodwood, Bellville, Durbanville and the CBD. “Standalone 5G will further improve 5G network performance with increased uplink rate, lower latency, and improved reliability, ushering in high-end cloud VR and cloud gaming services, more diversified enterprise and home broadband services,” says Khaya Dlanga, Rain Chief Marketing Officer.
Khaya Dlanga, Rain Chief Marketing Officer
“Standalone 5G will demonstrate how 5G is powerful in realising South Africa’s 4IR future. Powered by Huawei’s global leading 5G solutions, our Standalone 5G will enable the industry’s digital transformation in the future, such as smart healthcare, smart ports, smart mining and smart manufacturing in South Africa.”
“We will work with the trustworthy strategic partner to further expand our 5G networks and bring the best service and experience to our customers,” adds Dlanga. This comes as MTN is test running its 5G network deployment across South Africa. This move according to analysts will not only usher in competition, it will also crash the prices which are presently high.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Rain South Africa, a data-only network provider in South Africa has launched South Africa’s first 5G network in parts of Johannesburg and Tshwane, and it is offering prices that make fibre connections seem slow.
In a statement on Wednesday (18 September), Rain’s chief marketing officer Khaya Dlanga said that the service will first launch in parts of Johannesburg and Tshwane, with access being made available to select customers. Other interested users can apply for 5G through Rain’s website, and will be alerted once it is available in their region.
Here Is All You Need To Know
Selected customers in Rain’s 5G coverage area have been invited to be the first to purchase ultra-fast 5G, unlimited internet from R1,000 per month, according to Khaya Dlanga.
Rain will then deliver a state-of-the-art 5G router to a customer’s home. No installation is required, the router is simply plug-and-play and you will connected immediately.
The speed and capacity of the 5G network, together with the latest Wifi 6 technology in the router, will enable rain users to stream high-definition video to multiple devices simultaneously.
Khaya Dlanga said the company has achieved speeds of 700 Mbps during testing, but the typical client will see speeds around 200 Mbps.
Dlanga said that the initial offering aims to provide fast, affordable and easy to install wireless connectivity to homes and businesses as an alternative to ADSL fibre and fixed-LTE.
During the course of the next year 5G coverage area will be extended to Durban and Cape Town, Dlanga said.
5G is the latest iteration evolution of wireless data standards, and promises to be roughly 10 times faster than the current state-of-the-art 4G used by cellphone networks, while also being more reliable.
Vodacom and MTN have both said they could launch 5G locally in 2019, but have been restricted by a lack of access to the necessary radio frequency spectrum.
In a policy discussion document released in August, South Africa’s national treasury said data prices could decline by as much as 25% if the appropriate spectrum is released in South Africa.
The release of spectrum, Treasury said, would reduce the cost of doing business in SA and contribute up to 0.6% in economic growth.
If implemented, that would be the first time in 14 years that additional spectrum is released for use, after the state repeatedly missed its own deadlines to do so.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world
