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- Octotel continues climb as the highest-rated fibre network operator, Vumatel and DFA lowest of the top 8
ISPA, South Africa’s official internet Industry Representative Body (IRB), has released the results of its six-monthly Fibre Network Operator (FNO) Perception Survey and Octotel, Openserve and MetroFibre retain first, second and third spots, respectively.
However, in good news for internet industry service levels, Octotel’s overall rating has improved to 7.4 (from 7.1), Openserve’s rating has improved to 6.7 (from 6.6) and MetroFibre’s rating has strengthened to 6.7 (from 6.5). These results reflect the opinions of ISPs towards FNOs in February 2025.
SA’s FNOs are critical to bridging the digital divide and therefore how they are performing across a range of metrics important to the ISPs that actually interface with the end internet consumer is of vital importance to the economy.
The five other top performers are Liquid Intelligent Technologies (6.1), Link Africa (6.1), Frogfoot (5.6), Dark Fibre Africa (4.9) and Vumatel (4.6). Liquid, in particular, has improved markedly from 4.7 in August 2023 to 6.1 in February 2025.
ISPA has determined that ISPs are rating more FNOs over time, suggesting that ISPs are using more fibre operators to deliver more services compared to two years ago. “ISPs rating more FNOs bodes well for competition. Generally, each survey brings a slight improvement in ISP perceptions of FNOs over the previous six months so we are definitely making progress,” says Sasha Booth-Beharilal, ISPA chair.
The February 2025 FNO perception survey saw 46 ISPs (44 ISPs in Oct. 2024) actively contributing to 355 ratings (321 ratings in Oct. 2024) of 39 FNOs (38 FNOs in Oct. 2024).
The eight most-rated operators have consistently been rated by the most ISPs in the ISPA Perception Surveys conducted around October and February in each year. See below for how the eight most-rated FNOs performed this time:
| Fibre Network Operator | Overall score | Change in last six months | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2025 | Aug 2024 | Feb 2024 | Aug 2023 | ||
| Octotel | 7.4 | 7.1 | 6.5 | 6.8 | +0.3 |
| Openserve | 6.7 | 6.6 | 6.1 | 7.0 | +0.1 |
| MetroFibre | 6.7 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 6.8 | +0.2 |
| Liquid Intelligent Technologies | 6.1 | 6.7 | 5.9 | 4.7 | -0.6 |
| Link Africa | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 5.9 | -0.1 |
| Frogfoot | 5.6 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 6.3 | +0.2 |
| Dark Fibre Africa | 4.9 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 5.8 | -0.4 |
| Vumatel | 4.6 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 6.0 | -0.1 |
| Average | 6.0 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 6.2 | -0.1 |
The only change in the order of the top eight over the last six months is a drop for Liquid Intelligent Technologies from second to tied fourth place. Openserve and MetroFibre are now tied at second place, both having improved slightly since the last survey.
Link Africa is steady and ties with Liquid for the fourth position. Despite an improvement over the last six months, FrogFoot’s average score remains below 6. Dark Fibre Africa continues a two-year slide, and now joins Vumatel as the only FNO in the top 8 scoring an average of below 5.
When it comes to the three top performing FNOs, a closer look at their strengths and weaknesses over the last 18 months reveals that:
- A noticeable improvement in the score for communications means that Octotel now has three ratings edging on a score of 8: software systems, reliability and communications. An improvement in ISPs’ perceptions of Octotel’s adherence to open access principles means that the value rating is now Octotel’s lowest score.
- Openserve’s reliability has consistently rated highly in the FNO perception survey, but technical competence, adherence to open access principles, and likelihood of promoting all scored above 7. Dragging the average down are a perception of poor communications, lack of staff friendliness and insufficient support.
- In the latest survey, MetroFibre’s reliability was its strongest score, with support, technical competence, and staff friendliness also all rated positively by ISPs. There was a noticeable improvement in MetroFibre’s two lowest scores in the previous survey: software systems and perceptions of adherence to open access principles
For FNOs wishing to improve their scores in the future, ISPA’s advice remains that FNOs must streamline the support they provide to ISPs. In particular, there must be processes and adequate staff capacity to resolve the common issues that ultimately impact end user customer service.
The full table of results for all of the FNOs surveyed is published on the ISPA website:
