South African fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) provider Vumatel has unveiled plans to invest ZAR3 billion (USD208.6 million) to expand its network over the next two years, following the signing of a ‘significant finance deal’ with Standard Bank. TechCentral writes that, whilst neither Vumatel nor Standard Bank have provided further details regarding their deal, they described it as ‘one of the largest debt capital-raisings of its kind in the FTTH industry to date.’ Vumatel plans to use the funds to accelerate its fibre rollout and to expand to new markets. Commenting on the provider’s plans, CEO Niel Schoeman said: ‘We need to ensure that we invest in long-term sustainable infrastructure that can support the growth in demand for high-speed connectivity. That is why we plan to invest ZAR3 billion over the next two years in fibre-optic networks to service the residential sector.’