Vodacom Looking to Increase Stake in Local WiMAX Operator

South Africa's Vodacom is reported to be planning to increase its stake in local firm, WBS - which operates the iBurst fixed wireless internet provider. Last year, Vodacom took a 10% stake in the firm - and now the local BusinessReport newspaper says that the company is to increase that to a 25% holding. iBurst operates a WiMAX network

It is thought that Vodacom will use aspects of the iBurst network to provide some backhaul for its 3G network - while also enabling iBurst to share the rollout cost of its own coverage.

iBurst MD Alan Knott-Craig Jnr said earlier this year that the company plans to reach a 65,000 subscriber base by the end of February, with 100,000 subscribers by the end of the 2008/9 financial year. The company currently has 55,000 subscribers. However, he cited a lack of base stations and planning issues as holding back subscriber growth.

"The thing that holds us back is lack of base station sites. If we could have 10 times the number of base stations, we would have 10 times the subscriber numbers."

Vodacom is 50% owned by Vodafone and Telkom South Africa. Vodafone is in talks to increase its stake in the firm - although not to whole ownership.

On the web: BusinessReport

Posted to the site on 26th November 2007