Over the last year or so many aspects of everyday life shifted online. Work, school, healthcare, shopping and family gatherings moved into cyberspace when the world locked down to stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. The reliability, coverage and speed of our mobile networks became a subject of sharp focus. MyBroadband has released its Q1 2021 Mobile Network Quality Report, which ranks local mobile networks, removing the guesswork for consumers. – Melani Nathan
The best mobile network in South Africa in 2021
MyBroadband Insights has released the Q1 2021 Mobile Network Quality Report, which shows that MTN has by far the best mobile network in South Africa.
The report is based on 349,575 speed tests that were performed by thousands of MyBroadband Speed Test App users across South Africa between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021.
The research shows that South Africa had an average mobile download speed of 33.23Mbps and an average upload speed of 12.71Mbps.
MTN had the highest average download speed at 64.29Mbps, followed by Vodacom on 32.76Mbps, Telkom on 27.83Mbps, Cell C on 20.82Mbps and Rain on 10.58Mbps.
MTN’s exceptional performance is a result of a R50bn infrastructure investment over the past five years to extend coverage, improve network quality, and increase speeds.
It is noteworthy that the average speed of all the mobile operators – except for Rain – was significantly higher than a year ago.
What makes the improved network performances particularly interesting is that it was possible despite a significant increase in traffic.
The reason is the temporary spectrum which was issued to mobile operators during the lockdown.
This temporary spectrum helped mobile networks to increase their network capacity and improve their average speeds during the lockdown.
Rain was the only operator whose year-on-year performance declined. Its average download speed plummeted from 15.20Mbps in Q1 2020 to 10.58Mbps in Q1 2021.
The decline in Rain’s network performance was likely a result of network congestion in some areas because of higher subscriber numbers.
Best mobile network in South Africa
To determine the best mobile network in South Africa, a “Network Quality Score” was calculated for each network using download speed, upload speed, and latency.
The Network Quality Score out of 10 then shows how a network performed in relation to other networks.
MTN reigned supreme with a Network Quality Score of 9.73, followed by Vodacom on 5.65, Telkom on 5.17, Cell C on 4.36, and Rain on 3.40.
The table below provides an overview of the mobile network rankings in South Africa.
| Network Operator | Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) | Network Quality Score |
| MTN | 64.29 | 25.42 | 32 | 9.73 |
| Vodacom | 32.76 | 10.94 | 32 | 5.65 |
| Telkom | 27.83 | 7.24 | 30 | 5.17 |
| Rain | 20.82 | 10.32 | 39 | 4.36 |
| Cell C | 10.58 | 9.64 | 33 | 3.40 |
Read the full report below:
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