Comsol, a South African fixed wireless connectivity and private network operator, is entering the home broadband market as a wholesale provider of 5G infrastructure.
The move is backed by two new shareholders, Platform Investment Partners and Wimsey Capital, who are funding a multibillion-rand buildout of a purpose-built 5G-Advanced fixed wireless access network.
The new shareholding follows the exit of Nedbank Private Equity, part of Nedbank CIB, from its investment in Comsol.
Convergence Partners, a major shareholder, together with Solcon Capital, is investing additional growth capital. Founder and CEO Iain Stevenson, through Mactavish Investments, retains his stake and is also investing further capital.
RMB arranged and provided the funding solution that enabled the shareholder transaction and will support the company’s capital expenditure roll-out plan.
The wholesale model gives South African internet service providers, mobile virtual network operators and other potential partners access to a standalone 5G-Advanced network built for fixed wireless access.
Comsol owns and operates the network as an end-to-end wholesale product, while partners control the customer relationship, branding, commercials and support.
Comsol started building the network six months ago and already covers more than a million households in Gauteng. The company is targeting full coverage of Gauteng by March 2027, with expansion into the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and major regional centres to follow in 2027 and 2028.
The company aims to deploy around 2,000 base stations nationally, which it says would make it one of the country’s largest standards-based and highest-capacity 5G networks.
Stevenson said Comsol builds ahead of demand, pointing to its early investment in licensed spectrum and private 5G before the market had fully grasped the opportunity.
“We see 5G-Advanced for the home as a big growth opportunity,” he said.
“We believe the way to honour that mandate is to build wholesale infrastructure that extends high-speed broadband to new customer segments and creates a platform for more competition at the well-established service provider layer,” he said.
Shaun Clark, CEO of Platform Investment Partners, said the firm has spent years investing in open-access digital infrastructure in South Africa, including as a founding investor in DFA, Conduct, Vumatel and N99.
“Comsol is a natural fit with our portfolio of digital infrastructure businesses, which are all centred around a neutral host model,” he said.
Richard Ladbrook, Director of Wimsey Capital, said the firm sees a significant opportunity in 5G fixed wireless access to bring high-quality connectivity to more South African households.
“We are excited to back the business and partner with the world-class Comsol team as they build and scale this next phase of growth,” he said.
Andile Ngcaba, executive chairman of Convergence Partners and chairman of the Comsol board, said the company is well positioned as the industry transitions from 5G to 6G.
“The depth of its spectrum and nationwide network presence across all provinces creates a significant opportunity to serve South Africa’s enterprise, private and public sectors,” he said.
Yougan Moodley of Nedbank Private Equity said the exit concludes a successful nine-year investment in Comsol.
“We are proud to have supported the company’s growth, network rollout and value creation journey alongside management and our co-shareholders,” he said.
Approximately 15 percent of South African households are connected to fibre, largely in dense metro areas where trenching costs are justified. Comsol says this leaves a significant adjacent market where 5G fixed wireless access can be deployed quickly and at lower cost.
Comsol received its C-band spectrum licence from ICASA in 2022. ICASA data shows fixed wireless access subscriptions grew by roughly 39 percent year on year in 2025, and BMIT projects that 5G could account for up to 67 percent of all residential fixed wireless connections by 2029, up from 35 percent in 2024.
The company says its network is one of only two production 5G standalone cores currently live in South Africa, offering lower latency and roughly double the uplink performance of typical 5G mobile operator networks.
Comsol operates purely as a wholesaler and does not compete with its consumer-facing partners, who retain control of product commercials, packaging, billing and branding. The company says its API-driven platform allows partners to bring a branded 5G-Advanced offering to market within weeks.
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