Across Africa, home broadband is experiencing a clear shift. After years of heavy reliance on mobile data and limited fixed-line connections, fibre-to-the-home FTTH is gaining traction as consumer demand for faster, more reliable internet rises. Fixed broadband subscriptions have grown at double-digit rates as fibre deployments expand, and forecasts suggest that fibre and fixed wireless access together could represent nearly two-thirds of all fixed broadband subscriptions by 2027.
In markets such as South Africa, the number of FTTH connections rose sharply recently, with subscriptions increasing from roughly 1.5 million in 2023 to nearly 2.5 million in 2024 as providers such as Telkom's Openserve and Vumatel accelerated deployment toward underserved townships and peri-urban areas. In Nigeria, one of the continent's largest economies, MTN has announced plans to connect up to 8 million homes with FTTH under its FibreX initiative, signalling a significant commitment to expand reliable fixed broadband across residential and business communities.
This surge is not happening in isolation. In this TechTalkThursday article, we look at what is driving this surge in FTTH across Africa, the landscape of adoption, the challenges that remain, and the outlook for the years ahead.
