Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a technology company owned by Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, plans to spend more than R350 million ($19.7 million) to deliver a Software Defined Network (SDN) offering known as Dataport Across Africa.
The move will make Liquid the first African company to do so, Billionaires.Africa reported.
In its initial phase, the offering will be available in South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania, as well as the United Kingdom and France, with additional countries and points of presence to ensure greater coverage in the future.
With the arrival of the client-controlled network, which can be scaled and customized to suit the data center and SME user markets, customers will be able to control how much data they use as well as the speed at which they download.
Liquid Dataport CEO, David Eurin, said in a statement announcing the move:
If African businesses want to compete with their counterparts in more developed economies, SDN is the answer. Our working methods have evolved, and our customers now expect to pay for services as they use them.
The flexibility we’ve provided customers through this solution has enabled them to select and scale their network requirements based on their individual needs, and only pay for what they use.
A subsidiary of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology company founded by Masiyiwa, Liquid is a market leader in connectivity, innovation, and intelligent technology. It has operations in more than 20 countries, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The company’s recent investment decision comes after it has already spent more than $1.5 billion on network infrastructure as part of its plan to leverage its position as the first player to offer Dataport services in Africa to gain an advantage and market share.
Why not facilitate the importation of medicines so urgently required by many hospitals in your country of birth, Mr Masiyiwa. No more cellphone masts, please. Medicines only.