DFA has committed more than R800 million to upgrading and future-proofing its national fibre network, reinforcing its status as a leading wholesale open-access connectivity provider in South Africa. This strategic investment aims to meet the growing demand for reliable, high-speed internet across the country.
As part of the MAZIV group, DFA’s extensive national network plays a crucial role in providing connectivity and backhaul services for mobile operators, data centres, internet service providers, and public sector institutions. This investment follows the company’s R400 million Dry Underground Distribution Cabinet (DUDC) network enhancement initiative, launched in August 2023, which focused on stabilising and modernising its infrastructure.
The network upgrades have already yielded significant improvements. DFA has recorded a 40% enhancement in new circuit delivery times and a 100% improvement in mean time to repair (MTTR) where the new architecture has been deployed.
“We’ve increased the average number of new circuits delivered from 800 to 1,500 per month, with a peak of nearly 2,000 new connections in a single month—a record for us,” says Andreas Uys, Chief Technology Officer at MAZIV. “This investment also enables us to support higher line speeds and expand capacity to meet the evolving needs of our customers.”
Uys highlights that the integration of a newly consolidated Project Management Office (PMO) has further streamlined service delivery. “Our goal is to reach up to 2,500 new connections per month this year. With our upgraded architecture and operational improvements, we can potentially connect buildings already within our network in just 14 days, while newly connected sites could be up and running within 55 days,” he adds.
In late 2022, DFA faced customer concerns over network stability and service delivery delays. However, according to Dewald Booysen, Chief Operations Officer at MAZIV, the company has made significant strides in enhancing customer satisfaction.
“We’ve worked diligently to address these issues,” says Booysen. “Our network upgrades have greatly improved resilience and diversity, allowing us to maintain a national uptime of over 99.5%—even during periods of heightened incidents. Today, we’re achieving an exceptional 99.99% uptime.”
Managing a national fibre network spanning over 15,000km comes with its challenges, including third-party construction damage, vandalism, copper theft, and extreme weather conditions, which have more than doubled in the past two years. Despite these obstacles, DFA has managed to improve its MTTR by 100% over the past year.
“We’ve seen steady, predictable progress each month,” Booysen affirms. “We’ve significantly reduced the time needed to resolve customer issues, while simultaneously deploying new circuits, maintaining existing infrastructure, and implementing network enhancements.”
Booysen notes that the majority of service disruptions occurred in Gauteng, where DFA manages nearly 5,000km of its total fibre infrastructure.
To further improve service quality, DFA has introduced dedicated service management touchpoints, a consolidated Project Office to accelerate project timelines, an enhanced partner programme, and substantial upgrades to its Network Operations Centre (NOC).
“These initiatives ensure a seamless customer experience by providing a single point of contact for new services and support. Additionally, automation and revised business processes within the NOC enhance transparency and facilitate proactive communication with customers,” Booysen explains.
Acknowledging the key contributions of DFA’s partners, Booysen emphasizes that collaboration has been instrumental in overcoming challenges and achieving service improvements.
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