Ithuba Holdings, the newly appointed national lottery licence operator, has announced that it will be partnering with Vodacom as its communication services provider. The company made the announcement as it prepares to launch a revised lottery to millions of South Africans as of 1 June 2015.

As part of the partnership deal, Vodacom Business will be providing more than 11, 000 SIM cards to Ithuba to service their network and connect the lottery terminals to all retailers nationwide. This will allow the company to be able to make immediate pay-outs to all lottery customers, irrespective of their demographic area.

“The decision to bring Vodacom on board was driven by the company’s experience and reliability of their network as well as the national footprint, and the reach which is significant for Ithuba. We want the lottery to be easily accessible and more importantly the payment system to be effective in any region”, says Charmaine Mabuza, CEO of Ithuba Holdings.

Vodacom will provide Ithuba with the reliable and secure communication infrastructure necessary to connect the central gaming systems, Regional Office and the Retailer’s lottery terminals.

“We are pleased that Ithuba has chosen to entrust us with their communications infrastructure. This is a great development for Vodacom Business and will help ensure the success of the national lottery. The SIM cards that we will be supplying will enable terminal to terminal connections and given the wider reach of Vodacom’s network, this translates into a broader player audience,” said Vuyani Jarana, Chief Officer, Vodacom Business.