Neotel, formerlySNO Telecommunications, was the second national operator (SNO) for fixed line telecommunication services inSouth Africa. It was unveiled on 31 August 2006 inKyalami inMidrand. Neotel is South Africa's first direct telecommunications competitor to the current telecommunicationsparastatal,Telkom.

The new company announced its business services on 15 November 2007 and its consumer services in May 2008. Its business services include local and international leased line services, as well as a suite of voice, data (VPN), and Internet offerings delivered over its converged, next-generation network.^[2] International Transit services for wholesale customers have been available since September 2006.^[3][4] They plan to use wireless broadband technologies, amongst others, which not only allows data transfers but also voice in the form ofVOIP.^[5]

The arrival of a competitor was said to bring competitive pricing in terms of high speed internet (avg. 250 kbit/s to 750 kbit/sCDMA2000), broadband throughWiMax, and later high speed broadband (xDSL and Fibre).^[6][7]

In 2017, Neotel was acquired by Liquid Intelligent Technologies.^[8]

In 2001, an amendment to the Telecommunications Act was made that allowed for the creation of a competitor to South Africa's largest telecommunications operator, Telkom.^[9] The initial shareholders of the Second National Operator (SNO) were identified asEskom andTransnet.^[10] In early 2002, bidding started for the remaining stakes in the SNO.^[11] The Shareholder's agreement was signed on 15 August 2005.^[12] Following the signing, the licence terms and conditions were finalized in March 2006, and the company officially launched in August 2006.^[13]

In May 2014 abuyout offer ofZAR 7 Billion from cellular networkVodacom was accepted by shareholders of both companies.^[14] Even though regulatory approval by theIndependent Communications Authority of South Africa was obtained in 2015, the deal ultimately collapsed in March 2016, after competitors successfully challenged the transfer of Neotel's licenses and spectrum in court.^[15][16]

In June 2016, Tata Communications announced that it had sold its stake in Neotel toLiquid Telecom, which is majority owned byEconet Wireless Global, for US$428 million.^[17]

Neotel currently consists of the following consortium:^[18]

Initial holdings byEskom Holdings (15%), Transtel, a division ofTransnet (15%) and Two Consortium (12.5%) sold toTata Communications ofIndia in 2009 and 2011, raising their stake from 26% to 68.5%, making them the majority shareholder within Neotel. In 2017, the company was acquired by Liquid Intelligent Technologies.^[8]

• Liquid Telecom (70%);
• Royal Bafokeng Holdings (BEE partner) (30%).

Neotel launched their consumer products in 2008.

NeoConnect is anEV-DO based service and is available in two primary versions. All versions include a phone that includes support forShort Message Service (SMS) and voice calls. NeoConnect Lite is a low speed (up to 156kbit/s) internet connectivity product. It hasdata cap options ranging between 2GB and unlimited. NeoConnect Prime is a medium to high speed (up to 2.4Mbit/s) product with data caps of between 2.5 GB and unlimited.^[19]

• Neotel's products are currently only available in limited areas (Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria)
• The phone only has aUSB connection and does not provide a connection compatible with devices meant to connect to phone lines, such as fax machines.^[20]
• Latency is variable, making the connection unsuitable foronline gaming,VoIP and otherjitter sensitive applications.

As a wholesale telecommunications provider, and to support its own services, Neotel is involved in a number ofsubmarine communications cables that will increase South Africa's international connectivity between 2009 and 2011. Currently (prior to June 2009), Neotel offers international services that make use ofSAT-3 andSAFE.^[21] It manages the landing station in South Africa forSEACOM,^[22] which was commissioned for operation on 23 July 2009, and is a participant inEASSy,^[23] andWACS.^[24]

• Hellkom
• MyADSL
• Telkom (South Africa)
• WACS

• Official website at theWayback Machine (archived 2015-03-15)

• Companies based in Johannesburg
• Telecommunications companies of South Africa
• Privately held companies of South Africa
• Telecommunications companies established in 2006
• South African companies established in 2006
• 2016 mergers and acquisitions

• CS1 errors: generic name
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from July 2021
• Use South African English from August 2012
• All Wikipedia articles written in South African English
• Webarchive template wayback links