In South Africa’s fibre market, the smaller players are winning the battle for reputation. The latest industry survey finds several small fibre operators outscoring most of the country’s big networks on how well internet providers rate them.
The findings come from the newest Perception Survey by the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), South Africa’s official internet industry body, which asks ISPs to rate the Fibre Network Operators (FNOs), the wholesale companies that build and run the fibre that ISPs sell services over.
The small operators are shining
Several smaller FNOs scored higher than most of the eight largest networks, led by Lightspeed (Cybersmart) at 7.1, Open Fibre and Lightstruck at 7.0, Evotel and Seacom FibreCo at 6.9, and WECOM at 6.6.
ISPA notes a caveat: these smaller operators received fewer ratings from ISPs than the majors, so their averages rest on a thinner sample. Even so, on the numbers alone, each would slot near the top of the table.
“Potential investors and ISPs looking to broaden their service offering, geographic reach or exposure to a more innovative corporate culture should take note of these up-and-coming fibre superstars,” said Ant Brooks, ISPA spokesperson. “When smaller firms start outperforming their bigger industry compatriots, that’s something to watch, and it bodes well for future service levels.”
How the Big Eight fared
The eight FNOs with the most responses were Octotel, Openserve, MetroFibre, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Frogfoot, Link Africa, Dark Fibre Africa and Vumatel.
Octotel held on to the top spot among the majors with 7.5, ahead of Openserve on 6.5 and MetroFibre on 6.4, with Liquid steady in fourth. Frogfoot, Dark Fibre Africa and Vumatel each recorded their highest ratings in three years, while Link Africa slipped to its lowest score on record.
The survey matters because FNOs are the backbone of South Africa’s open-access fibre model: ISPs choose which networks to build on, so perception feeds directly into where the next connections, and investment, flow. With smaller, newer operators now rivalling the incumbents on service, the pressure on the majors is unlikely to ease, a dynamic also playing out as the industry marks three decades of organised competition and consumers weigh options from fixed-wireless challengers.
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