Comsol

Market position

Describes itself as a leading provider of fixed wireless access last-mile connectivity and private networks in South Africa and as the operator of the country's first medium-agnostic, enterprise-grade Layer 2 open-access network; it has partnered with vendors including Samsung, Verizon and Ericsson on 5G and private network initiatives.

Comsol positions licensed spectrum and carrier-grade SLAs against unlicensed wireless, and faster deployment (historically quoted at six working days for provisioning) and broader geographic reach against fibre builds, offering uncontended, guaranteed-capacity services in metros as well as outlying towns and remote mining terrain, plus resilience against cable theft and outages through wireless redundancy.

Technology

Licensed-spectrum wireless access using mmWave 28GHz and 60MHz of 3.7GHz spectrum, a 5G Standalone network engineered specifically for fixed wireless access, and a medium-agnostic carrier-grade Layer 2 open-access architecture combining fibre backbone with high-capacity licensed microwave. Additional capabilities include low-power wide-area IoT networking, Private 5G (via Ericsson), point-to-point links recorded up to 10Gbps, and disaggregated cell site gateway (DCSG) equipment trialled through the Telecom Infra Project.

Go-to-market

Sales are channelled largely through partners — major telcos, carriers, ISPs and service providers resell capacity on Comsol's open-access network — supplemented by direct enterprise engagement, industry-specific teams (for example a dedicated mining contact line and email), and a vendor agreement allowing resale of Ericsson Private 5G into mining.

Enterprises, government entities and parastatals of all sizes; SMEs; mining operations, including more than 50 mine sites; education institutions such as Nelson Mandela University and St David's Marist Inanda; telcos, carriers, ISPs and content providers as wholesale customers; and residential broadband users reached indirectly via partner ISPs.

Geography

Headquartered at 96 Koranna Avenue, Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa. Coverage spans more than 200 South African towns, cities, metros and district councils; the company expanded nationally in 2000 and into other African markets from 2001, having installed wireless connections across the African continent.

History

Comsol was established in 1997 and built its first multi-link wireless network in 1998, expanding nationally in 2000 and into Africa in 2001. It opened a Network Operations Centre in 2003, ran its first mobile and fixed WiMax trials in 2007, and began providing managed licensed dedicated circuits in 2011. In 2012 it trialled TV White Spaces with Google. From 2013 it pursued a vision for South Africa's first open-access last-mile network, with planning and testing in 2015 and the 2016 launch of the Comsol National Network, a medium-agnostic enterprise-grade carrier Layer 2 network covering more than 200 cities and towns. In 2017 it launched what it described as Africa's largest low-power wide-area network. It was awarded 60MHz in the 3.7GHz band by ICASA in 2021, ran a lower-income 4G/5G FWA broadband proof of concept in Nottingham Road, KwaZulu-Natal in 2022, and signed an Ericsson Private 5G reseller agreement in 2023. The company has since moved into wholesale 5G-Advanced home broadband backed by new shareholders.