Standard Bank has finally announced the financial close of a R11.5 billion (₦990bn) deal allowing Vodacom to acquire a 30% stake in Maziv, a South African fibre infrastructure behemoth. The transaction creates a fibre behemoth by combining the Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa assets and has been four years in the making. This glacial pace was largely due to regulatory hurdles only recently cleared by the Competition Regulator and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa). The plan, ostensibly, is to bridge the ‘digital divide’ in townships and rural areas. One hopes the fibre gets laid faster than the paperwork was signed.