Every year, as South Africa winds down for the festive season, the connectivity industry quietly enters a period known as the fibre freeze. From around mid- November through early January, most fibre network operators (FNOs) pause new builds, civil works, and complex activations. The goal is to maintain network stability while key teams take leave. However, for clients waiting on installations or link upgrades, it often means everything grinds to a halt.
For many resellers and their customers, this pause arrives just as year-end trading ramps up. Branches need new connections. Construction projects must go live. Retailers are scaling up point-of-sale systems. Yet, with trenching stopped and limited technical staff available, pending fibre orders are delayed until late January or even February.
If you’re in the connectivity business, this isn’t news, but it is a reminder that planning for the freeze can make the difference between a smooth December or weeks of operational frustration.
Why the fibre freeze matters more each year
South Africa’s appetite for high-speed connectivity keeps growing. According to ICASA’s latest State of the ICT Sector report, fixed internet and data service revenues have continued to climb, underscoring how critical these connections have become for business continuity. But with that growth comes mounting strain on deployment schedules. When the industry effectively pauses for six weeks, backlogs can double overnight.
The irony is that while fibre teams slow down, business activity often spikes. Holiday retail, travel, and hospitality sectors depend on reliable connectivity, as do logistics companies and remote branch operations. When the fibre crews down tools, these businesses still need to transact, process payments, and communicate seamlessly.
This is where rapid-deployment wireless connectivity has emerged as the unsung hero of the season.
The role of wireless as a bridge
When we talk about wireless, we mean solutions built for business use, backed by licensed spectrum, predictable performance, and proper service-level agreements (SLAs). These aren’t consumer dongles or best-effort mobile hotspots. They’re engineered to provide dependable connectivity that supports real workloads while you wait for fibre completion.
Over the past few years, fixed wireless access (FWA) technology, whether delivered over 4G, 5G, or point-to-point microwave, has matured into a genuine business connectivity layer. Analysts predict strong growth across Africa as demand for fast-to-deploy broadband rises and spectrum-based wireless solutions continue to rival fibre in speed and consistency.
For enterprises and service providers, this means there’s now a credible way to bridge the fibre freeze: wireless links that can be deployed in days rather than weeks, and which deliver consistent performance for business-critical applications like VoIP, VPN access, cloud services, and point-of-sale systems.
How to plan ahead for the freeze
The first step is awareness. Most fibre network operators publicly announce their freeze windows each year, usually between 01 December and 15 January. As soon as these dates are confirmed, resellers and integrators should flag any pending installs that fall within that period.
From there, take these steps:
- Identify “at-risk” projects. Audit your order pipeline. Any site still awaiting build or activation after 1 December should be treated as freeze-risk.
- Prioritise the essentials. Decide which connections your customers can’t do without over the season: retail branches, call centres, warehouses, or customer support hubs.
- Secure wireless early. Engage a licensed provider before the December rush. Ask about installation lead times, SLAs, temporary solutions and static IP or managed routing options.
- Plan your cutover. Define how traffic will transition from wireless to fibre once the freeze lifts. Test VPN tunnels, DNS, and failover mechanisms in advance.
- Communicate proactively. Keep customers informed. A clear explanation of the freeze, paired with a practical wireless backup plan, builds trust and reduces frustration.
By October or early November, you should have those contingencies mapped out because by the time the freeze is announced, supplier resources are already thin, and implementation pipelines have started to fill up with existing orders.
Technology options that work
Different environments demand different solutions, but these are the most effective connectivity options we see at VO Connect:
- Licensed FWA: Plug-and-play customer premises equipment (CPE) that delivers broadband speeds over licensed spectrum. Ideal for small sites, pop-ups, or interim connections.
- Microwave point-to-point links: Rapidly deployed long-range connections between two fixed sites. Perfect for long distance or high-bandwidth requirements.
- Business SIM-based broadband: Dedicated business data SIMs with static IP options and priority routing. Useful for VPNs and secure remote management.
- Temporary to redundant setups: Run your wireless link as primary until your fibre circuit has gone live, converting the primary wireless to a resilient failover solution down the line. When the fibre goes live, the transition is seamless, and you gain redundancy for future outages.
Each of these options can be scaled to the client’s requirements but the common thread is speed. With proper planning and the right deployment partner, these links can be live within days, not weeks.
Avoiding the January backlog
The real cost of the fibre freeze often isn’t December downtime, it’s the January backlog. Once crews return, every delayed order floods back into the queue at once. Resellers face frustrated clients and installation bottlenecks that can stretch for weeks.
Having wireless stop-gaps in place not only keeps your customers connected, but it also buys your teams breathing room to schedule fibre activations methodically instead of firefighting. It also lets clients experience the benefits of high-quality wireless, which, in some cases, becomes a long-term backup or hybrid connectivity strategy even after fibre is delivered.
Turning the challenge into opportunity
At VO Connect, we see the annual fibre freeze not as an obstacle but as an opportunity. It’s a moment for the channel to demonstrate agility, service continuity, and customer-centric thinking. By anticipating the slowdown and planning wireless alternatives in advance, resellers strengthen relationships and protect revenue.
Connectivity should never hinge on a single technology or contractor’s calendar. Whether you’re a systems integrator supporting multiple sites or a business owner waiting on that final fibre splice, the key is readiness. The networks may pause for the holidays, but your business doesn’t have to.