Herotel Leads South Africa FTTH with 284,850 Homes Connected

In Short

• Herotel now ranks as South Africa’s largest fibre-to-the-home provider by connected homes.
• The Africa Analysis FTTH tracking report puts it at 284,850 connected FTTH homes.
• Herotel says it is targeting another 750,000 homes in township communities.

What Happened

Herotel, a South African internet service provider, has become the leading FTTH provider in the country by connected homes. FTTH means fibre-to-the-home, which is a fixed broadband connection that runs fibre cables directly to a household.

The milestone comes from the Africa Analysis FTTH Quarter Tracking report. It counts connected FTTH homes across both month-to-month and prepaid fibre packages. Herotel said the FTTH figure of 284,850 excludes its fixed wireless base of 52,094 customers. Fixed wireless is internet delivered via radio links rather than fibre cables.

Herotel’s CEO, Van Zyl Botha, said demand for “reliable, affordable connectivity” is growing beyond the country’s established fibre markets. Herotel also attributed its growth to a direct-access network model. In plain terms, it builds, owns, and runs much of its own fibre and wireless infrastructure, instead of mainly reselling access on third-party networks.

The company said it has more than 350,000 active customers across over 550 towns, cities, and suburbs. It also claims more than 612,000 homes are “ready for connection”, meaning fibre infrastructure is in place and a household can be activated when it signs up.

Why It Matters

FTTH scale is a key metric in South Africa’s broadband market because it often translates into more control over service quality, pricing, and rollout speed. It also signals where capital is going in last-mile connectivity, which is the final leg that reaches individual homes.

Herotel’s next push is focused on underserved township areas, including Jouberton, Kanana, and Siyabuswa. The company says it is targeting 750,000 additional homes and wants to expand its footprint to over 1.1 million homes, reaching about 6 million people.

If the rollout holds, it could increase fibre availability in lower-income and peri-urban communities where households often rely on mobile data or slower fixed options.