Vodacom, a South African telecoms firm revealed it had signed a roaming and facilities leasing agreement with Telkom, South Africa’s biggest fixed-line operator.
According to Vodacom, Telkom customers will be able to roam on Vodacom’s 2G, 3G and 4G networks with full effect from June 2019. However the company did not specify the value of the deal.
Speaking on the partnership, Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO said “this partnership between the country’s fastest growing networks will also result in reduced network deployment costs for Telkom and cost savings for Vodacom”.
Telkom, which is looking to expand, said the agreement will allow it to use Vodacom’s towers, antennas and shelters to build out its own network. To lower costs and compete with wireless operators like MTN Group and Vodacom, especially with a focus on mobile and broadband, Telkom revamped its services in 2016.
Telkom said it will discontinue its current roaming agreement with MTN, a deal which expires in June 2019.