According to the recent Mobile Network Quality Report by MyBroadband
Insights, MTN has emerged as the top mobile network in South Africa for the
first quarter of 2024. The report, based on 285,839 speed tests conducted
across the country, highlights MTN's superior network performance, with an
average download speed of 82.48 Mbps, surpassing its competitors.
The research, which included dedicated drive tests and crowdsourced
data, aimed to provide a comprehensive and accurate representation of
real-world network performance. The findings show that South Africa's average
mobile download speed stands at 66.82 Mbps, with MTN leading the pack, followed
by Vodacom, Cell C, Telkom, and Rain.
MTN's strong performance is attributed to its substantial investment in
infrastructure, with a whopping R10 billion spent over the last year,
representing a 15% increase in capital expenditure. This investment has enabled
the mobile operator to upgrade its infrastructure, improve network
availability, and provide a superior overall service.
While Vodacom excelled in 5G performance, MTN's comprehensive network
coverage and quality across LTE and 5G secured its position as the best mobile
network in South Africa. MTN dominated in major cities like Cape Town,
eThekwini, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, and Nelson Mandela Bay, while Vodacom emerged
victorious in Johannesburg.
Notably, Cell C demonstrated significant improvement in network
performance, with its average download speed increasing from 28.70 Mbps in Q1
2023 to 39.32 Mbps in Q1 2024, propelling it to third place behind MTN and
Vodacom.
The Network Quality Score, calculated based on download speed, upload
speed, and latency, revealed MTN's superior performance, with a score of 9.66,
followed by Vodacom at 8.14, Cell C at 6.09, Telkom at 5.24, and Rain at 4.75.
By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
