Econet's Liquid Telecoms to buy East African assets from an SA company

Liquid Telecom, Zimbabwe's largest internet company in terms of infrastructure, volume of traffic and customer base and a subsidiary of the Econet Wireless Group will purchase South Africa's Allied Technologies East african businesses.

Liquid Telecom is a major fibre player in Southern Africa and currently working on one of the longest fibre networks in the region spanning Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and the DRC. Liquid Telecom also operates satellite internet facilities in the United Kingdom, Botswana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Somalia, Burundi, Niger and Kenya.

Wellington Makamumre, Managing Director at Liquid Telecom, said: "In Zimbabwe no other IAP has managed to achieve what Liquid Telecom has achieved in such a short space of time. Most operators have opted to wait for us to construct the network and then use it for their backhaul purposes.  Liquid Telecom now has a blueprint to deploy urban fibre in other countries."

Altech said the tie up with Liquid will create efficiencies that will be considerable and will enable the interconnectivity of the continent in a manner previously unachievable. Enterprises will, in many cases for the first time, be able to obtain point-to-point connectivity between a virtually unprecedented number of African countries. This network will provide reliable, high-speed, cost-effective connectivity to carriers, mobile operators, ISP's, homes, financial institutions and businesses of all sizes.

Altech Group CEO, Craig Venter believes that the realignment has substantial benefits for Altech. "As shareholders are aware, our East African activities have, in recent years been problematic and unprofitable, and we have previously expressed our intention to deal effectively with these challenges. The Liquid transaction opens up a positive new chapter for Altech, in partnership with a group with proven expertise in its sector."