Mobile operator MTN South Africa has announced the conclusion of a deal with pay tv operator MultiChoice to acquire Smart Village. MTN says the new purchase which will accelerate its fibre to the home (FTTH) strategy and help make it the provider of choice for high speed fibre network across South Africa.

The transaction now awaits approval by South African competition authorities in terms of the country's Competition Act.

Mteto Nyati, chief executive officer at MTN SA reiterated the value of the deal for MTN. "The acquisition of Smart Village provides MTN with the opportunity to cement its market leadership in the FTTH space and to make inroads in the enterprise sector. In the enterprise space, the deal will give MTN Business the ability to provide wholesale access to 4,228 enterprises passed by Smart Village, while ensuring substantial savings for MTN and its customers as traffic will be routed via MTN's backhaul infrastructure."

Smart Village is a wholly owned subsidiary of MultiChoice that owns fibre networks in gated communities across South Africa.

More than 29 000 residential homes and stands in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces already form part of Smart Village's expansive fibre network in the country.

The acquisition, MTN adds, will give it presence in more gated estates and apartment blocks, business parks and shopping malls.

MTN's FTTH footprint will also include the flagship and most-sought after estates of Waterfall, Jackal Creek, Xanadu Eco-Estate and Midstream Estates.

"The transaction is in line with our strategy of driving sustainable growth through identifying and astutely acting on new opportunities as part of MTN's delivery of a bold, new digital world to our customers. It lays the firm foundation that allows us to develop our participation in the enterprise adjacent sectors including media and entertainment," added Nyati.

MultiChoice will continue to look after existing Smart Village customers until the deal is ratified as part of the sale.

Mark Rayner, chief operating officer at MultiChoice South Africa described the deal as one that would allow the company to better focus on the realm of business.

"Smart Village is a network infrastructure business which aligns more closely to MTN's telecommunications infrastructure business. Our focus at MultiChoice is to deliver consumer-facing services across multiple platforms. This deal enables us to sharpen our focus on our core business."