If you live in Cape Town, there’s a good chance Octotel is the fibre under your street, it dominates the Mother City’s open-access market.
The story behind Octotel
Octotel started as a Cape Town fibre company in the mid-2010s, led by founder Rob Gilmour. Investment from Actis (2020) helped it roughly double its footprint, and in 2024 a consortium led by African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), with STOA and Thebe, took over ownership.
How Octotel works
Octotel is an open-access network: it owns and maintains the fibre in the ground, but it doesn't sell you the internet directly. Instead, several independent ISPs ride the same line, and you choose which one to buy from, and you can switch ISP later without a new installation. That's why our coverage check shows the network at your address, then lets you compare the ISP packages on it by real monthly price.
Where Octotel reaches
Octotel is heavily focused on Cape Town, the Atlantic Seaboard, City Bowl, Southern and Northern Suburbs, and has been extending along the coast and Garden Route to towns like George, Mossel Bay, Plettenberg Bay and Hermanus. It reports passing around 350,000 homes.
Speeds & signing up
Octotel offers uncapped symmetrical fibre up to 1 Gbps as standard, with premium multi-gig tiers (2.5 Gbps and 5 Gbps) available in select areas. Choose from 50-plus ISPs, check your address to compare.
Common questions
Which ISP is best on Octotel?
It depends on price and service, they all use the same Octotel line. Compare the live packages at your address and pick on monthly cost and reputation.
How long does installation take?
Once ordered, an on-site install usually takes a couple of hours and is commonly scheduled within one to two weeks.