Vumatel customer almost charged R1,400 for repair after ants eat his fibre

A Vumatel customer nearly got billed R1,400 for the replacement of fibre cables damaged by ants in an infrastructure box outside his property.

The fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) user in Queensburgh, Durban, has had repeated issues with his connection in recent months.

In September 2024, his connection stopped working after ants moved into a fibre box next to the street outside his house and damaged the fibre cabling inside.

The box in question supported both the customer and his neighbour’s connections.

Despite this, he was initially told he would have to pay for the fix. However, Vumatel ended up covering the repair because the issue was confirmed not to be related to any infrastructure on his property.

A technician from the fibre network operator (FNO) fixed the connection by splicing a part of the fibre cabling in the box.

The technician explained they had seen several cases of ants making nests in fibre boxes and believed it was due to unusually cold weather in KwaZulu-Natal at the time.

A report by US-based Rainbow Technology has found that various species of ants regularly enter telecommunications pedestals, cabinets, and aerial equipment seeking moisture, food, or housing.

The damage is caused by the insects biting into the cables or leaving behind faeces, which can cause corrosion.

Unfortunately, Vumatel’s initial fix did not address the ant problem, and in February 2025, the customer’s Internet connection broke again.

He contacted his Internet service provider (ISP), who arranged for another technical analysis of the issue.

When Vumatel’s technicians arrived on site to determine the problem, they told him he was liable for the cost of replacing the entire fibre line from the street to his house, which was R1,400.

After contacting his ISP, he was advised not to pay anything directly to the technicians and that any charges would go through their billing.

Not long thereafter, a senior manager at the ISP contacted the customer and confirmed that he would be billed for the damages as the issue was with a part of the infrastructure on his property.

A technician visited the site and spliced the fibre cabling in the street-side box again, which resolved the connectivity issues.

However, the customer said his ISP advised him that the next technical callout would require a full replacement of the cable running to his house at his own cost.

The ISP also recommended that the customer pour Blue Death ant poison around the fibre box to prevent the critters from damaging the infrastructure again.

The customer found that instruction curious, considering the box was outside his property, and its maintenance and upkeep should be the responsibility of the FNO.

MyBroadband contacted Vumatel to learn why the customer would be charged for a repair caused by a problem outside his property.

On the same day, a Vumatel technician arrived at the site without any prior notification to the customer.

After assessing the issue himself, the technician told the customer that they were not supposed to pay for any damage to the infrastructure.

He also said that there were clearly issues with the way the fibre was installed and that this would be rectified to ensure the ants could not cause trouble again.

He considered several fixes before deciding to replace the entire cable from the fibre box to the customer premise equipment and seal the fibre box completely to prevent ants from entering it again.

He also said he would pour ant poison all over the insides of the new conduit for the fibre cabling, just in case.

Vumatel later told MyBroadband that there was a misunderstanding between its team and
the ISP regarding the conditions under which a customer was liable for reinstallation costs.

“The maintenance team has since remedied this with the customer and will effect a full reinstallation of their fibre line at no cost to the customer,” Vumatel said.

“Our maintenance team identified the initial problematic section of cable between closest access point and the wall box outside the customer’s property.”

“However, best practice would be to replace the entire cable from the Access Point to the customer’s
CPE to ensure that there are no other potential performance issues.”

“This is still our intention — at no cost to the customer.”

Ants not the only non-human fibre vandals

Ants are not the only fibre saboteurs from the animal kingdom in South Africa.

Major FNOs in South Africa have told MyBroadband they have also observed bees, bats, rodents, and pets biting or chewing fibre cables.

In general, the customer is liable for the repair cost if the break occurred within their property’s boundaries.

Vumatel said there were rare exceptions where damage outside the property caused directly by the customer, such as vehicle damage or tree felling, would be the financial responsibility of the customer.

A good example of damage inside the property that will be for the customer’s bill is when a pet, such as a dog, digs up and breaks a trenched fibre cable.

However, in some cases, FNOs do not hold the customer financially responsible for certain animal-induced breaks over which they would have less control.

For example, they may not have to pay if a wild animal or rodent chewed through a cable in their garden.