Accurate broadband speed statistics are of great value to assist consumers to distinguish between different broadband offerings and educate the market on actual network performance, rather than just theoretical maximum speeds or advertised network specifications.
Ookla’s Speedtest.net and NetIndex offerings do an excellent job of providing consumers with a platform to test their broadband speeds and compare their results with local and international standards.
Ookla’s NetIndex further provides users with the opportunity to share details about their broadband service in a short survey where the information is used to compare the overall value proposition of broadband offerings globally.
South African broadband speed stats
According to the latest NetIndex statistics, South Africans enjoyed an average download speed of 2.96Mbps and an uplink speed of 1.08Mbps.
These results are based on 215,281 speed tests performed at Speedtest.net between 10 June 2011 and 9 July 2011.
The NetIndex stats further show that the Uninet Project had the highest average download speed in South Africa with 15.59Mbps, followed by Neotel with 7.63Mbps, and Verizon South Africa with 5.83Mbps.
The following table lists the top 10 IPSs according to Ookla’s latest Net Index statistics.
| ISP | Average Speed (Mbps) |
| Uninet Project | 15.59 |
| Neotel | 7.63 |
| Verizon South Africa | 5.83 |
| Cell C | 3.92 |
| Cybersmart | 3.84 |
| Uninet Communications | 3.43 |
| Vodacom | 3.16 |
| Altech Technology Concepts | 3.11 |
| Global Internet Access | 2.96 |
| Mweb Connect | 2.73 |
The speeds listed in the table above are based on all speed tests performed on a certain network which includes core network tests. This explains why Uninet can achieve average download speeds which far exceed the maximum speeds offered to consumers.
Fine grained results
To produce results based only on consumer-level broadband services it is necessary to somehow filter results to exclude core network tests and tests originating from sources other than certain access methods.
A further requirement to produce accurate broadband results is to differentiate between the various ADSL offerings (384Kbps, 1Mbps, 4Mbps and 10Mbps).
To accurately measure broadband speeds in South Africa MyBroadband developed a custom Ookla speed test server, and incorporate a short survey before a test starts to differentiate between the various access methods in the country.
MyBroadband is further using IP ranges based on access methods to ensure the integrity of the results data.
The following table provides an overview of the top average broadband speeds in South Africa over the last two weeks:
| Broadband Speed Ranking | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | ISP | Service | Download Speed | Upload Speed |
| 1 | Web Africa Static IP ADSL | ADSL 10Mbps | 7.42 Mbps | 0.66 Mbps |
| 2 | ATC Broadband ADSL | ADSL 10Mbps | 7.29 Mbps | 0.73 Mbps |
| 3 | Internet Solutions Consumer ADSL | ADSL 10Mbps | 5.78 Mbps | 0.63 Mbps |
| 4 | Web Africa ADSL | ADSL 10Mbps | 5.75 Mbps | 0.62 Mbps |
| 5 | Cybersmart Restored ADSL | ADSL 10Mbps | 5.17 Mbps | 0.52 Mbps |
| 6 | Telkom ADSL | ADSL 10Mbps | 4.95 Mbps | 0.57 Mbps |
| 7 | 8ta HSPA | 8ta 3G/HSPA | 4.5 Mbps | 1.43 Mbps |
| 8 | Cell C HSPA | Cell C HSPA | 3.98 Mbps | 1.08 Mbps |
| 9 | MWEB ADSL | ADSL 10Mbps | 3.97 Mbps | 0.56 Mbps |
| 10 | Cybersmart Shaped Uncapped ADSL | ADSL 4Mbps | 3.51 Mbps | 0.4 Mbps |
| 11 | MWEB Business Static ADSL | ADSL 10Mbps | 3.48 Mbps | 0.31 Mbps |
| 12 | ATC Broadband ADSL | ADSL 4Mbps | 3.47 Mbps | 0.41 Mbps |
| 13 | Telkom ADSL | ADSL 4Mbps | 2.77 Mbps | 0.37 Mbps |
| 14 | Vodacom HSPA | Vodacom 3G/HSPA | 2.74 Mbps | 0.81 Mbps |
| 15 | Web Africa ADSL | ADSL 4Mbps | 2.71 Mbps | 0.4 Mbps |
| 16 | MWEB ADSL | ADSL 4Mbps | 2.6 Mbps | 0.36 Mbps |
| 17 | MTN HSPA | MTN 3G/HSPA | 2.56 Mbps | 0.77 Mbps |
Support from broadband providers
MyBroadband’s Rudolph Muller thanked local broadband providers for providing accurate IP ranges to support the new broadband speed test system and improve the accuracy of results.
Muller pointed out that any ISP or institution which is not listed yet can simply provide MyBroadband with their IP ranges (differentiating between different access methods if possible) to have their results included in the results.
Muller further thanked Cell C for sponsoring the new broadband speed test service which makes it possible to invest in continued development of the service to improve the accuracy of broadband speed reporting.
Test your speed: MyBroadband Speed Test Server
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