Broadband1.03.2018

Confirmed – MTN has the best network in South Africa

By Staff Writer

New research by P3 Communications shows that MTN has the best network in South Africa, outperforming its rivals in telephony and data services.

P3 Communications is a German-based company which provides technology consulting and testing services for mobile networks.

The company performed drive tests in South Africa between 17 January and 17 February 2018, using Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphones.

It performed 9,000 voice tests per operator and 2,600 data tests per operator in cities (52%), towns (16%), and on roads (32%).

The data tests measured HTTP download and upload speeds, web browsing, and YouTube video streaming.

The testing route included large parts of South Africa, shown in the map below.

Results

The P3 Communications network testing showed that MTN reigned supreme in voice and data network quality.

MTN performed particularly well in major cities, where it outperformed its rivals in all measures – including download and upload performance, web browsing, and YouTube streaming.

The table below shows the scores achieved by the networks for voice and data services, and the breakdown of points in the categories cities, towns, and roads.

P3 Communications Network Quality Tests
Module	Infrastructure	Maximum	MTN	Operator 2	Operator 3	Operator 4
Voice	Total	400	324	314	125	144
	Cities	240	86%	85%	29%	48%
	Towns	80	82%	83%	47%	20%
	Roads	80	64%	55%	23%	18%

Data	Total	600	488	465	300	206
	Cities	360	89	83	65	48
	Towns	120	80	79	27	12
	Roads	120	59	58	27	17

TOTAL		1,000	812	779	425	351

Confirming MyBroadband’s research

The latest network testing results are in line with MyBroadband’s network performance rankings, which were released in January.

MyBroadband’s testing, which involved controlled drive tests (similar to the P3 Communications testing) and crowd-sourced testing, showed that MTN had the best network.

MyBroadband’s Mobile Network Quality Report rankings for Q4 2017 are shown below.