NEOTEL South Africa has sold 30 percent of its stake to Tata Communications, an information and communication company. The deal was clinched on Monday, but the value of the shares previously held by Eskom and Transet, could not be immediately ascertained.
Tata Communications, a subsidiary of Tata Africa Holdings, is a renowned consortium company with huge investment interests in Africa and some parts of Asia and the Middle East.
According to Tata Communications chief executive officer, Narasimhan Srinath, the deal is aimed at providing global quality telecommunication services in South Africa.
Apart from accruing the revenue base, the stake sold to Tata Communications will boost Neotel’s capacity to strengthen the company’s position as a sound communications player in South Africa.
Neotel managing director and chief executive officer, Ajay Pandey said, “With the current economic climate in South Africa, it is very encouraging to us that a global telecommunications giant continues to invest in South Africa.
“I strongly believe that such transactions reinforce international investors’ confidence in the country and more specifically in the South African telecommunications market. Neotel’s entry into the market and recent success is a clear indication of the growth potential in the industry.”
Neotel is South Africa’s first converged communications network operator, providing a range of value-added voice and data services for businesses, wholesale network operators and providers and consumers using its pure-IP Next Generation Network, powered by its high-performance fibre optic backbone.
The company connects major centres in South Africa to each other and to the world, directly linking the country into Tata Communication’s global Tier 1 network–ITNewsAfrica.
