As fibre competition heats up in South Africa, anti-trust authorities have blocked what could have been one of the country's largest fibre company.

The Competition Tribunal has prohibited the proposed merger between mobile operator Vodacom and fibre infrastructure company Maziv.

Maziv was formed in anticipation of this deal going through to house the combined fibre assets of Vodacom and Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH).

Vodacom planned to buy a stake in Maziv, which owns CIVH's current investments in Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa.

This would have resulted in one of South Africa's largest fibre infrastructure firms.

Following the prohibition decision, Vodacom released a statement indicating that it intends to appeal the ruling.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Tribunal stated that the proposed deal was rejected after relevant industry consultation.

“The Tribunal’s decision to prohibit the proposed merger follows an extensive hearing that took place over 26 days between 20 May to 27 September 2024. The parties also made further written submissions after this, the last of which was received by the Tribunal on 16 October 2024,” said the Tribunal.

Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom Group, commented on the Competition Tribunal's decision as follows: “I am deeply surprised and disappointed by the Tribunal’s decision. South Africa desperately needs additional significant investment, especially in digital infrastructure in lower income areas.

“Our investment of up to $796 million (R14bn) would have changed millions of lives and created thousands of jobs.”