Helios Towers has entered into a partnership with Vulatel to form a joint venture to build out wireless and fixed line open-access infrastructure in South Africa.

Helios will take a 66% slice of the venture as the firm readies itself for the 5G revolution. While it might seem strange to talk about 5G on a continent which has constantly struggled to bridge the enormous digital divide, South Africa is certainly a different landscape than what would be expected as the norm.

“I am thrilled to announce our entry into South Africa, which delivers against our stated strategy of providing MNOs with open-access infrastructure to meet the growing demands of their customers in Africa for fast, stable and available networks,” said Kash Pandya, CEO of Helios Towers. “We are delighted to be partnering with Vulatel, a business with impeccable telco sector expertise and deep local credentials in South Africa.”

For Helios, expansion into the South African market makes perfect sense and partnering with a local business will provide suitable foundation. Helios’ footprint currently covers four markets across the African continent, while Vulatel came to existence in 2017 on the back of acquiring Dimension Data’s fibre and wireless division. Helios brings the international experience and capital, while Vulatel holds its own with contacts and relationships in the South African market.

“There is a significant infrastructure gap in South Africa today, which means the demand in data services is not being met,” said Tlhabeli Ralebitso, CEO of Vulatel.

“We are convinced this provides an unrivalled opportunity to build a leading open-access infrastructure platform to address that gap. Our vision has always been to establish a nationwide service network before entering into the open-access telecoms infrastructure market on the back of our trusted relationships with the telecoms operators in South Africa.”

Looking at the South African market, this is a country which is expected to lead the 5G euphoria on the African continent proving this is a good time for Helios to make its move. With 6,500 towers in four markets (Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Brazzaville), contracted revenues of $3.1 billion and average contract life of 8.4 years remaining across the group, it is certainly in a stable position to make such a bet.