Connectivity service provider Rise Telecoms has completed a comprehensive, building-wide fibre deployment across Johannesburg’s 173 m Ponte City Tower.

More than 480 residential units have now been connected to high-quality, fast and reliable Internet, as the landmark, an icon of modern high-rise living in the 1970s, enters a bold new chapter in its history, one which includes seamless digital inclusion.

With high-speed connectivity integrated directly into the building’s core services, Internet is no longer an occasional add-on to the more than 1 500 occupants who now have access to free Internet courtesy of the building owner.

The path to connecting Johannesburg’s most famous residential tower started in the nearby precinct of Maboneng, explained Rise Telecoms COO Eli Friedman, noting that the foundation was laid when founders of Fibrehoods, an early pioneer in South African aerial fibre, sold the company to Vumatel with the core team members converging to form what became Maboneng Broadband Network.

Operating as a small, localised entity, Maboneng Broadband Network built a fibre-to-the-building backbone network; however, initial consumer uptake across apartment units remained modest.

Prior to Covid-19 in 2020, the group rebranded and expanded beyond Maboneng as Rise Telecoms, when the team originally deployed a flexible pay-as-you-go model.

However, the true catalyst for transformation arrived with the 2020 pandemic, as the national lockdown forced millions into remote work and online learning, network traffic spiked overnight.

What was once an underused network was suddenly stress-tested to its limits.

“The pandemic completely flipped the traditional sales dynamic. Instead of us chasing property owners, landlords began proactively reaching out to secure stable, high-speed internet for their residents,” Friedman continued.

Recognising this market shift, Rise Telecoms pivoted from pay-as-you-go access to a fixed, uncapped model, offering unlimited Internet from as little as R99 a month.

“For over a decade, fibre deployment across South Africa had focused almost exclusively on suburban markets, leaving high-density inner-city markets underserved. By targeting student accommodation and high-rise, inner-city developments, Rise stepped in to close this gap, turning Internet access into an essential daily utility alongside water and electricity.”

This market shift is now at the point where free Internet for tenants in high-density residential sites has become the standard without which a letting product simply does not compete.

In December 2023, Vumatel fully acquired Rise Telecoms, integrating the enterprise into the Maziv group, providing Rise with the institutional scale of a major telecommunications group while preserving its core mission.

Partnering closely with Dark Fibre Africa for backhaul infrastructure and leveraging the Vumatel brand, Rise transitioned from an entrepreneurial startup into a structured, highly scalable operator. This strategic alignment accelerated deployment speeds, formalised operating procedures, and supported a shift toward robust Gigabit Passive Optical Network architectures.

Today, Rise Telecoms operates across major hubs, including Johannesburg, Hatfield in Pretoria, Stellenbosch and Vanderbijlpark, connecting about 55 000 units across more than 600 buildings. With average occupancy of three people per unit, over 150 000 students and residents experience free Internet on the Rise network.

While Rise had previously provided a shared WiFi model to the units within Ponte, bringing unlimited connectivity to the entire 54-storey cylinder presented unique operational challenges.

“Securing physical access to more than 480 individual apartments while navigating the building's distinctive geometry required roughly six months of careful execution,” Friedman commented, adding that the technical deployment relied on 500 m of 24-core fibre backbone feeder cables alongside 24 000 m of four-core drop cable to establish direct unit connections.

To drive local economic integration, the installation process and ongoing onsite support were carried out in collaboration with local subcontractors. Further, the project prioritised skills transfer by providing technical training to Ponte building managers, equipping them with basic network troubleshooting skills to resolve tenant queries directly.

According to Friedman, the human impact of such projects is immediate.

“Community feedback highlights how stable, uncapped access in the home has transformed daily life, with parents sharing that reliable connectivity helped their children study effectively for their Grade 12 examinations.”

With its operating model firmly established, Rise Telecoms is positioned for significant expansion over the next three to five years. Growth strategies will focus heavily on expanding coverage across high-density student housing nationwide, as well as rapidly growing multi-family developments and suburban townhouse complexes.

By bridging infrastructure gaps in dense urban environments, Rise continues to demonstrate how targeted digital investments can empower communities, modernise historic structures, and ensure that fast, reliable Internet remains accessible to all for free, with the innovative business model to enable this.

Rise Telecoms is specialising in high-speed Internet and managed Wi-Fi solutions for multi-dwelling units, residential buildings, and sectional title properties in South Africa’s major metropolitan areas.