Here is where you will find the best broadband in South Africa

South African broadband services are often described as slow and expensive when compared to international standards, but some areas in the country are experiencing world-class speeds.

Many operators are rolling out fibre-to-the-home services, with peak speeds ranging between 100Mbps and 1Gbps.

Mobile operators are also growing their LTE and LTE-Advanced networks, with peak speeds exceeding 100Mbps.

Here are the areas in South Africa where people can experience the highest fixed and mobile broadband speeds.

Vumatel fibre-to-the-home, with peak speeds of up to 1Gbps

Vumatel delivers access speeds of 1Gbps to homes in the suburbs where it has rolled out its FTTH network.

It deploys point-to-point Active Ethernet technology, which differs from the majority of FTTH deployments in South Africa – which are done using GPON technology.

The main difference between Active Ethernet (AE) and GPON is that AE offers a dedicated fibre for each home on the network, while with GPON there is splitting or sharing of the physical fibre.

Currently, the Vumatel FTTH network is live and services are available in Parkhurst, Parktown North, Greenside, Killarney, Riviera and Saxonwold, and Parkwood.

It is currently building FTTH networks in Blairgowrie, Victory Park, Linden, Hurlingham, Bryanston South, and Emmarentia.

Cybersmart fibre services with speeds of up to 1Gbps

Cybersmart offers enterprise fibre services with peak speeds of up to 1Gbps. It also offers residential FTTH services with peak speeds of 200Mbps.

Cybersmart’s 1Gbps enterprise services are available in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Ermelo, Piet Retief, and Swellendam.

The company’s 200Mbps FTTH services are available in Green Point, Sea Point, Zonnebloem, Gardens, and Cape Town CBD. It also has some coverage in Kenilworth, Wynberg, and Newlands.

Cybersmart’s FTTH services are also available to many residential complexes in Bloemfontein, and a few spots in Durban.

Many smaller FTTH players offer speeds of up to 1Gbps in selected areas

There are numerous fibre-to-the-home network operators which are rolling out networks with access speeds of up to 1Gbps in neighbourhoods around the country.

123Net offers fibre with speeds of up to 1Gbps in Herrwood Park, La Lucia, Prestondale, Somerset Park, Sunningdale, Umhlanga, Umhlanga Ridge, Umhlanga Rocks, and Woodlands.

Octotel is growing its 100Mbps fibre-to-the-home network in Sea Point, Bantry Bay, Mouille Point, Three Anchor Bay, and Green Point.

Greencom is rolling out FTTH with speeds of up to 100Mbps in Sunninghill, Barbeque Downs, Glenferness, Sandton, Lonehill, Kyalami, Midrand, Centurion, Fourways, Randburg, Bryanston, and the West Rand.

Telkom fibre-to-the-home and LTE-Advanced with speeds of up to 150Mbps

Telkom is rolling out an extensive fibre-to-the-home network – offerings speeds of up to 100Mbps.

The company is already offering FTTH services in numerous suburbs in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, and Port Elizabeth.

Telkom is also growing its LTE-Advanced network, with speeds of up to 150Mbps. Areas where the company has coverage are also mostly based in large cities.

Telkom is currently offering LTE-Advanced in Carlswald, Craighall Park, Green Point, Greenside, Halfway Gardens, Highveld, Houghton Estate, Illovo, Kayalami Hills, and Killarney.

It is also available in Melrose, Midstream Estate, Mouille Point, Noordwyk, Parktown, Parktown North, Parkview, Prestondale, Rondebosch, Rosebank, Sandhurst, Saxonwold, Sea Point, Three Anchor Bay, Umhlanga, and Voma Valley.

The telco boasts the largest open-access fibre network in the country, available in multiple additional suburbs of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, and Port Elizabeth.

Neotel NeoBroadband Fibre, with peak speeds of up to 100Mbps

Neotel offers fibre-based broadband services with peak speeds of up to 100Mbps, with the option of burstable speeds on lower-speed packages.

Neotel offers fibre broadband services in many areas in Gauteng, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, and Durban.

Vodacom fibre-to-the-home and LTE offers speeds of up to 100Mbps

Vodacom is rolling out fibre-to-the-home in selected suburbs in Gauteng, Durban, Cape Town, Limpopo, Port Elizabeth, and Bloemfontein, with speeds of up to 100Mbps.

Vodacom’s LTE service, with speeds in excess of 60Mbps, covers 40.9% of the South African population and is available in most cities across the country.

Vodacom currently has over 3,600 live LTE sites on its network, and is growing its LTE footprint.

Cell C offers LTE speeds of up to 70Mbps

Cell C is currently offering LTE speeds of up to 70Mbps. As with all mobile services, the speed is dependent on the number of users in the cell, and other factors.

In Gauteng, Cell C is offering LTE in Fourways, Sandton, Bryanston, Lonehill, Randburg, Edenvale, Rosebank, parts of Kempton Park, and parts of Midrand.

Cell C is offering LTE speeds of up to 35Mbps in many areas in KwaZulu-Natal, including Hillcrest, Kloof, Pinetown, Berea West, Durban North, parts of Phoenix, Umhlanga, parts of Verulam, La Mercy, Tongaat, and parts of the Dolphin Coast.

Cell C plans to offer LTE speeds of up to 35Mbps in Milnerton, Durbanville, and parts of Bellville by the end of 2015.

MTN – no feedback from the company

MTN was asked for feedback regarding its fastest broadband speeds, and where it has coverage, but the operator did not respond by the time of publication.

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