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Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a technology company owned by Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, plans to spend more than R350 million ($19.7 million) to deliver a Software Defined Network (SDN) offering known as Dataport Across Africa, making it the first African company to do so.
In its initial phase, the offering will be available in South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania, as well as the United Kingdom and France, with additional countries and points of presence to ensure greater coverage in the future.
With the arrival of the client-controlled network, which can be scaled and customized to suit the data center and SME user markets, customers will be able to control how much data they use as well as the speed at which they download.
The company’s recent investment decision comes after it has already spent more than $1.5 billion on network infrastructure as part of its plan to leverage its position as the first player to offer Dataport services in Africa to gain an advantage and market share.
Customers have complete oversight of services provisioned at their fingertips with Dataport, as improved visibility allows users to define secure network pathways with greater control than most other network options.
“If African businesses want to compete with their counterparts in more developed economies, SDN is the answer,” David Eurin, CEO of Liquid Dataport, said in a statement announcing the move. “Our working methods have evolved, and our customers now expect to pay for services as they use them.”
“The flexibility we’ve provided customers through this solution has enabled them to select and scale their network requirements based on their individual needs, and only pay for what they use,” he added.
A subsidiary of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology company founded by Masiyiwa, Liquid is a market leader in connectivity, innovation, and intelligent technology. It has operations in more than 20 countries, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The company announced the acquisition of Telrad, an Israeli technology company with a significant presence in 13 countries throughout the Middle East, South America, the United States, Eastern Europe, and Asia, in August, in keeping with its plans to innovate and grow exponentially in the Israeli and international markets.
Masiyiwa’s wealth figures continue to decline despite a flurry of tech sector investments and acquisitions; the leading billionaire businessman lost $3.3 billion of his net worth over the past seven months.
