South African fixed wireless operator Comsol is constructing a nationwide 5G-Advanced network to compete with fibre and mobile broadband in the home market—without selling directly to consumers.
Wholesale model targets underserved households
Comsol will operate as a wholesale infrastructure provider, leasing its 5G network to internet service providers, mobile virtual network operators, and other partners. These companies will own the customer relationship, including branding, pricing, billing, and support. The strategy aims to expand broadband access beyond areas where fibre-to-the-home deployments are economically viable.
Current fibre connections reach only about 15% of South African households, leaving a substantial market in suburban, regional, and less densely populated areas that could be served using fixed wireless access (FWA).
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The company has already deployed infrastructure covering more than one million households in Gauteng, after beginning the network build six months ago. Comsol is targeting full Gauteng coverage by March 2027, before expanding into the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and major regional centres during 2027 and 2028.
Comsol expects its first consumer services to go live in September through its partners.
Standalone 5G core promises fibre-like speeds
Comsol’s network relies on a standalone 5G core, which the company says is one of only two production 5G standalone cores currently live in South Africa. It claims its network can provide roughly double the uplink performance of typical 5G mobile operator networks.
The network is designed to provide high-capacity broadband for applications including streaming, video calls, and smart-home services. Stevenson said it will compete with fibre, enabling users to perform the same tasks, though the experience will differ.
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The network uses C-band spectrum allocated to Comsol by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in 2022. The company says the spectrum allocation gives it the certainty required to fund the network and enables speed-tiered consumer packages.
Capital injection fuels nationwide expansion
The national rollout follows changes to Comsol’s shareholder structure. Platform Investment Partners and Wimsey Capital have become new shareholders, while Nedbank Private Equity, part of Nedbank CIB, has exited its investment. Existing shareholders Convergence Partners and Solcon Capital are providing additional growth capital, while Stevenson, through Mactavish Investments, is retaining his stake and also investing additional capital.
RMB arranged and provided the funding solution supporting the shareholder transaction and Comsol’s strategic capital expenditure programme. Stevenson said the company has raised a large amount of capital alongside bank debt through RMB to fund the rollout.
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Comsol is targeting a nationwide network of about 2,000 base stations.
Andile Ngcaba, executive chairman of Convergence Partners and Comsol’s board chairman, said the company’s spectrum and network footprint position it well for opportunities in enterprise, private, and public-sector markets.
Consumer services are set to begin in September, with partners already prepared to resell the network. For now, Comsol remains focused on building infrastructure, leaving customer experience to others.
