Limpopo Business 2017-18 edition

in terms of access to technologies that are
found in other provinces."
Broader investment
Ishmael Mathinya, Executive Head of Operations,
says the investment narrative goes beyond the capital
poured into infrastructure development. "The
region has received investments in excess of R577-
million over the past three years, with the majority
of the investment going to upgrading and integrating
the radio, core and transmission infrastructure.
Over and above the annual investment, the Group
CEO has made a commitment through an investment
of R23-million specifically to deep rural areas,"
according to Ishmael.
Following the network investment we are seeing
an increase in adoption of smartphones on the
Limpopo network with a 66% increase in data traffic;
however, Limpopo continues to dominate the
number of 2G devices on the network.
Structure
Vodacom Limpopo has three core units to serve the
province of Limpopo:
• The Consumer Business Unit, focused on retail
customers
• The Enterprise Business Unit focused on businesses
and the public sector
• The Technology division, focused on building,
operating and maintaining the
network.
The executive in Limpopo is
empowered to make decisions,
backed with requisite resources
and believes strongly in local
economic development.
further notes that the unit is training an additional
five engineering interns, all from Limpopo province,
four of whom are female. This is linked to
Vodacom's investment and commitment to the
upliftment of communities through its contribution
towards education.
Consumer Business Unit
Qiniso Nyathi, Executive Head Consumer Business
Unit, says our unique rates and a superb value
proposition have grown voice and data usage at
a rapid rate. Just4You has proven to be very popular
with voice customers. Investment in Fibre by
Vodacom has enabled and supported this growth,
with improved speeds and an increased distribution
footprint. The province is attracting an increase
in shopping mall developments allowing
us to broaden the reach we have to our customers,
but also an opportunity to localise the ownership
of stores.
Enterprise Business Unit (EBU)
The Enterprise Business Unit provides solutions to
corporates, the public sector as well as small and
medium enterprises. Our EBU customers have grown
in the province due to the network investments
made by Vodacom.
Solutions range from basic communications to complex
big data to sensing technologies. As Enterprise
Business Unit Head Busi Dlamini explains, "Our
Within the Technology division,
"at least 70% of the staff members
are originally from Limpopo
province", an important contribution
towards local economic
development and utilisation of
local talent, says Ishmael. He
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