BITCO TELECOMS: BitCo Delivers Consistent Growth in Challenging Times

Strong, stable, reliable, and affordable connectivity continues to be a problem in South Africa where reports suggest that the majority of the country falls short of global average download speeds of 9.10Mbps. Wireless connectivity is more popular in under-serviced areas, but data remains prohibitively expensive – ranking among the highest in the world and among the highest in Africa, with many paying more than counterparts in Egypt and Tunisia. Of course, there are entry level products that are competitive, but reliability remains an issue with many areas underserved by existing infrastructure. President Ramaphosa has been clear, stating that if the country is to take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and make the most of a digital economy, the roll out of improved connectivity is vital.

In joint public-private collaboration initiatives, traditional big-name players are doing their bit by investing heavily in fibre infrastructure, undersea cabling, data centres, wireless masts, network development, and much more. For BitCo, one of the country’s industry leaders in the provision of various telecom services, now is a busy period as it works hard to deliver seamless premium and broadband Fibre, wireless, and voice essentials, allowing for businesses to run and individuals to stay in touch.

Greg Sellars, Head of Marketing at BitCo, tells Enterprise Africa that growth is the number one priority for the business in 2022 and will come through network expansion across its entire portfolio.

CORE NETWORK EXPANSION

“We are continually upgrading our network infrastructure,” he begins. “There are major plans to continue with the core network expansion. In terms of our wireless network, we are completing major upgrades and replacing existing equipment with new carrier-grade technology to help expand that network. Looking forward, we are hoping to expand our network and coverage by working with more fibre network operators and third-party network operators to be able to offer services outside of our own network. You’ll find that, while we do have a large network with a large range of services, what happens is that a lot of third-party fibre network operators out there that have coverage in areas that we don’t. We work with them and interconnect so that we can provide a service over their infrastructure.”

This appetite for partnership is welcomed by clients who are desperate for more services and more options. In 2020, as a major shift in working conditions was pushed through by almost all companies in South Africa, and as consumer desire for online interaction and commerce increased, BitCo had to revise strategy. Sellars – who has been with the company for six years, heading up the Consumer Division before moving into the Channel Division, working alongside resellers, affiliate partners and wholesale market – says that external partnerships became key.

“There was a shift in the market, and we had to adapt,” he explains. “We introduced a wider coverage and started working with different fibre operators to be able to offer more connectivity and services. In addition, we also focused on our value-add services – we launched SDWAN and cloud security amongst others, and we were able to weather the storm. Of course, a lot of businesses did come into trouble, and we did find that we were faced with cancellations from contract customers as businesses closed down, but overall the company still grew in revenue, increased customer acquisition and increased top-line growth. We were happy that we didn’t go backwards and saw growth overall during the Covid period.”

BitCo had to enact certain protocols to protect cashflow and make savings while the environment was so uncertain, but, working alongside its supply chain, the company managed to offer up some reprieve for customers who struggled, ultimately keeping them onboard for the longer term and fostering very positive relationships for the future.

A GREAT NETWORK

In 2021, BitCo claimed increased market share and onboarded new clients thanks to its superior capabilities. For this industry leader, significant growth was realised in the Carrier and Channel partner space where BitCo now works with more than 250 companies around South Africa. With the switch to working from home and the associate digital sharing and security requirements, companies and individuals have sought a reliable and capacitated supplier. BitCo’s core network boasts 120Gbps national capacity and has the ability to provide customers with up to 10Gbps last mile services complimented by a 24/7 service Level Agreement.

“Our redundancy and connection to multiple undersea cable providers – including Seacom, WioCC, Telkom and other private peers – is a real separator,” says Sellars. “If one undersea cable breaks, an ISP could have many customers down, so we ensure we have multiple connections and that is a unique selling point.

“Our footprint across the country and having presence in multiple data centres means we are able to connect pretty much everyone across the country – we carry a great network,” he adds. “Other ISPs across the top three tiers actually buy from us. We are a wholesale network and to have that position as well is quite unique. Our national voice network has multiple IP interconnect agreements and that is great from a price point perspective. Our national fibre network consists of more than 150 Points of Presence (PoP) across the country.”

The company highlights an expansion strategy for 2022 that includes significant investment into the expansion of the Wireless (Microwave) Network powered by Radwin Carrier-Grade equipment into outlying towns across the country; development into Network Security and SD-WAN Solutions driven by Fortinet, the worlds’ leading secured SD-WAN technology; enhancement of DDoS mitigation and protection services with NETSCOUT Arbor DDoS mitigation solution; extension of the last-mile business fibre network and establishment of new PoP across the country; and evolution of the cloud-based PBX and scalable voice solutions. Sellars explains that all this is made possible thanks to the strength of the company’s network, and how it continues to power up through partnerships.

“In BitCo, the growth of the network has been substantial. Upgrades to our core fibre and wireless network has allowed for massive growth. That has allowed us to remain competitive and grow at the pace that we have. We are in that unique position as a Tier One provider, with the infrastructure in place, where other carriers and resellers are buying from us and, through our partner programme, we have grown massively. Partnerships have been very important.”

Clearly, BitCo solving a long-standing problem of connectivity in South Africa. By investing in infrastructure as well as high-quality service and value-add products, the company now boasts a portfolio that makes it the envy of the industry.

TIER ONE

But there is more to do; the demand for speed and uninterrupted supply grows unabated. Mobile operators have vastly improved their coverage across the country, and fibre lines are now running between all major hubs and major international corporates including Amazon and Microsoft investing in the country as the tech hub of the continent. As organisations look for a strong local partner, BitCo has the history and capability to back up its industry-leading status.

“We are a Tier One telecoms/internet service provider. We manage our own private last mile network that spans across the country for fibre, wireless and voice. We are purely national in South Africa, and we don’t work cross border. Our focus right now is only South Africa. We have a presence in multiple data centres across the country as well. We are able to connect everyone across the country as long as there is infrastructure in place.

“The company was established in 2006 and it started off as a telephony provider, working with traditional PBX systems and voice. It then expanded into the build of a wireless network before building and providing fibre services in 2011. To date, we have one of the largest networks from a business perspective and a large wireless network that spans the country,” confirms Sellars.

The company has a growing employee base of more than 175 highly skilled people that cover the entire spectrum of services required in the running of a business of this nature. Headquartered in Johannesburg but with a presence in Cape Town and Durban, BitCo is quick to respond to any issues. A major hurdle for many with the switch to home working, and something which has blighted the South African for years, is loadshedding. This crippling power issue is expected to persist through 2022 and beyond as Eskom hunts for long-term capacity solutions. But BitCo is again well prepared and puts the needs of its clients at the forefront of planning.

“From a wireless network perspective, we of course have back up battery power across all sites. From a datacentre perspective where we are hosting, there is continuous back up power that will never go down,” details Sellars. “Also, at the PoP, there’s back up power which is reliable. As long as there is back up power at the data centre and PoP then the fibre can still run. As long as there is power at the offices or at the home, then the fibre will run. Connectivity will not be impacted as long as that is in place.”

As the battle rages between ISPs to drive the price down an onboard more customers in South Africa, BitCo continues to offer one of the best products for resellers and wholesalers. Even as data pricing drops, speed must improve with South Africa recently ranked 90 of 224 countries in terms of broadband speed. With most internet traffic on the continent originating in South Africa, companies like BitCo can be proud that while progress has been hindered, the fantastic work being done is absolutely making a difference. And Sellars says that this is just the beginning with much more to come.

“Our goal is to grow in terms of revenue while continuing to establish ourselves as one of South Africa’s leading ISPs – that is definitely a big goal. We also have the goal of growing our network and customer base as well as enhancing customer service and support centres. We also want to partner with more fibre network operators to continue to bolster the network. We would also hope to grow geographically and focus on regions that are in outlying areas and have not received full attention,” he concludes. “Growth with our wholesale network will assist with this – more top tier providers in the outlying areas buying from us will assist greatly.”