Johannesburg – Telecommunications companies (telcos) are strategically diversifying into healthcare by leveraging their existing assets—network infrastructure, customer bases, and billing systems—to bridge access gaps, especially for underserved populations.
They are moving beyond traditional connectivity roles to become digital health service providers.
For telcos with advanced 5G networks, the strategy is to provide the premium connectivity that next-generation healthcare requires.
In Singapore, Singtel is powering community health posts with its 5G+ network, which uses “network slicing” to ensure a stable, uninterrupted connection for teleconsultations, even during periods of heavy network traffic, as reported by Healthcare IT News.
This diversification is a natural evolution for telcos, allowing them to generate new revenue streams and build customer loyalty while solving a critical social issue.
The key advantage they hold is the ability to “telco-fy” healthcare, applying their core competencies in connectivity, scale, and customer management to make health services as accessible as a mobile phone plan.
So, how is South Africa’s biggest telecommunications group scaling Tech for Good solutions across agriculture, education, healthcare, energy, and water?
Vodacom focuses on guiding organisations through their digital transformation journeys.
Central to this is Vodacom’s Internet of Things (IoT) strategy, which drives operational efficiency for businesses and accelerates the digitalisation of government services through use cases such as SmartGov, smart utilities, and smart health.
“Our Tech for Good platforms continue to scale beyond expectations, addressing critical challenges across key sectors, including energy, healthcare, education, and agriculture,” Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO, wrote in the company’s latest integrated annual report.
“They demonstrate how technology, when applied with intent, can deliver meaningful societal outcomes while creating sustainable business value.
“Advancements in technology improve operational effectiveness and output, while broadening the availability of high-quality resources across sectors. For example, our health platforms are digitising healthcare delivery at scale.
“Government clinics in South Africa run on our technology, as does the national blood bank.
“We manage National Health Insurance platforms in Egypt and Kenya, and our systems enable vaccine distribution for malaria and other diseases across multiple countries.
“M-mama, a government-led emergency transport system for maternal and neonatal emergencies, has saved more than 9 000 lives in Tanzania and Lesotho.”
Vodacom’s “telco-fy” healthcare initiatives
In partnership with its subsidiary Mezzanine, Vodacom deploys digital health solutions to strengthen healthcare service delivery and improve supply chain efficiency.
These include platforms such as HealthX in South Africa, eLABS in South Africa and Zambia, and its Stock Visibility Solution in South Africa, which support more reliable vaccination records, laboratory sample tracking, and real-time visibility of medicine stock levels.
“Our community programme, m-mama, an emergency transport system for maternal and neonatal emergencies, has saved 9 000 lives in Tanzania and Lesotho,” Vodacom disclosed in its integrated annual report.
In partnership with two Egyptian ministries, Vodacom disclosed that it is digitalising the healthcare system through three programmes: Universal Health Insurance, Primary Care Units, and the Egyptian University Hospital.
The Vodafone-owned group added that about 13.5 million people are served across healthcare facilities through digitalisation in Egypt.
In DRC, Vodacom launched the Bomoyi Ya Mama na Muana project to strengthen maternal and neonatal care in Lubumbashi, improving access to emergency support and training healthcare personnel in partnership with the UN Population Fund.
To mark the centenary of Sendwe General Hospital, the Vodacom Foundation inaugurated a fully renovated and equipped maternity ward.
*This article was first published in our sister publication techfinancials.co.za
