- Allegations of corruption in Lesotho said to be hampering 5G deployment; Vodacom appeals Please Call Me High Court ruling.
- Region: Vodacom Business introduced the V-Hub online resource portal to help small- and medium-size enterprises with digital transformation. The platform gives Vodacom Business customers free access to a digital Knowledge Centre, as well as “one-on-one advice over the phone… from a local specialist on anything from IT decision making to tech set-up and troubleshooting”.
- Egypt: Vodacom Chief Executive (CEO) Shameel Joosub reportedly met with Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli during a visit to the country in March 2022, with the CEO describing Egypt as “one of [its] most important markets”. In January 2022, Vodacom’s minority shareholders overwhelmingly backed a deal to acquire Vodafone’s 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt (Vodafonewatch, #203).
- Lesotho: government corruption and interference relating to licencing at the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) has reportedly hindered the widespread availability of 5G in the country. An unnamed industry source said the LCA does not have the “technical know-how or manpower capacity to monitor the implementation” of the 5G network, along with allegations of bribery against a government minister relating to the approval of a supplier deal. Vodacom Lesotho’s (VdL) debut of 5G in the country in August 2018 represented the operator’s first commercial launch of the next-gen technology in Africa. VdL is also understood to remain stuck in legal limbo after being issued with a licence revocation and enforcement proceedings notice by the LCA in October 2020 (Vodafonewatch, #190 and #197).
- Kenya: Safaricom agreed a “multi-year” contract with satellite operator Intelsat to expand 4G coverage in Kenya’s rural areas. The deal will provide Safaricom with cellular backhaul over satellite and enterprise connectivity services via Intelsat’s international hybrid network.
- Safaricom Foundation invested KES 3.2m (£21,200/€25,300) in the renovation of a maternity wing in the county of Baringo in Kenya, as part of its maternal health programme launched in Baringo in January 2020, which has seen the disbursement of funds amounting to KES 30m.
- South Africa: Vodacom is appealing Gauteng High Court’s February 2022 ruling that ordered it to reassess its ZAR 47m compensation offer to former employee Nkosana Makate for the Please Call Me ring-back service he invented in 2001. Makate has called for 5% of the revenue earned since it launched, said to total ZAR 20bn (Vodafonewatch, 2009.03, #150, #204, and passim). The appeal will take place at the High Court on 1 April 2022 to decide whether the matter should be heard before a full bench at the same court, or advance it to the country’s Supreme Court. Makate said he is willing to continue the legal battle even if it gets taken to the Supreme Court of Appeal, describing Vodacom’s appeal as having “no basis in law”.
- Vodacom flagged that it had invested more than ZAR 1bn (£52m/€62m) to expand 3G and 4G coverage in South Africa’s Western Cape during the last financial year. The operator said 3G and 4G population coverage in the region now stood at 99.5% and 97.6%, respectively. It also highlighted the continuing problem of vandalism, battery and cable theft at base stations, and said it had upgraded 240 sites with anti-theft infrastructure and new batteries to mitigate the issue.
