South Africa now has its first granular broadband infrastructure map, developed as part of the South Africa Digital Infrastructure Investment Study (Sadis) 2025. Built using a GIS system that divides the country into over 1.5 million hexagonal cells of ~0.76km² each, the map overlays mobile coverage, fibre node proximity, and fixed-wireless access data. Key findings include 4G coverage reaching 98% of the population, 74% of households within 10km of a fibre node, but 12.2% more than 20km away — beyond commercial viability without subsidies. Over 6,700 public schools and 1,000+ health clinics fall 10-25km from the nearest fibre node. The study criticises government for not making infrastructure data available and recommends Icasa compel licensees to submit standardised data. The GIS data is currently owned by the DBSA and not yet publicly available.
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