South Africa Needs R142bn To Connect All Homes To 100Mbit/s Broadband By 2035

A study by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the National Planning Commission (NPC) has laid bare the scale of investment required to connect every South African household to high-speed broadband by 2035.

The newly completed South Africa’s Digital Connectivity Investment Roadmap to 2035 provides a comprehensive assessment of the country’s progress toward universal broadband access. It identifies critical investment gaps, priority actions, and partnership opportunities needed to expand reliable high-speed infrastructure and accelerate the shift toward an inclusive digital economy.

The research translates national digital policy ambitions into a rigorous, costed, and fiscally aligned investment roadmap for Digital Connectivity Infrastructure (DCI). It directly supports the National Development Plan (Vision 2030), SA Connect, the National Infrastructure Plan 2050 (NIP2050), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Methodologically, the study applied the World Bank’s Beyond the Gap (BtG) framework alongside the International Telecommunication Union’s Universal and Meaningful Connectivity (UMC) standards. Through scenario modelling and GIS-based spatial mapping, it identifies geographic access gaps, quantifies capital and operational expenditure requirements across different economic and policy scenarios.

The study takes a comprehensive ecosystem approach, assessing infrastructure across international connectivity, backbone and metro networks, data centres, spectrum systems and last-mile access, alongside affordability, digital skills and institutional capacity as key enablers of meaningful connectivity.

Furthermore, achieving universal high-speed access (100 Mbps) will require targeted upgrades, technology diversification and greater rural investment, with affordability remaining the primary, income-driven barrier.

To support implementation, the study outlines three structured investment pathways for the period 2025 – 2035:

• a mobile-centric, least-cost model suited to constrained economic conditions;

• a hybrid mobile and fibre pathway balancing efficiency and performance; and

• a fibre-dominant, high-capacity trajectory aligned with economic recovery and enhanced competitiveness.

These pathways articulate trade-offs between fiscal effort, service ambition, technology mix, and long-term economic returns. An assessment of public funding, public–private partnerships, blended finance mechanisms, alongside institutional reforms to reduce deployment barriers and crowd in private capital, compliments the study.

Overall, the study provides the country with an evidence-based, fiscally grounded roadmap to achieve universal and meaningful connectivity, now requiring coordinated action to unlock its full potential for inclusive growth, better services, and long-term resilience.