South African mobile networks ranked — with a clear winner and loser

MyBroadband Insights has released the Q3 2021 Mobile Network Quality Report, which shows that MTN has the best mobile network in South Africa.

The report is based on 306,303 speed tests performed by thousands of MyBroadband Speed Test App users across South Africa between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2021.

The research shows that South Africa had an average mobile download speed of 40.40Mbps and an average upload speed of 13.66Mbps.

MTN had the highest average download speed at 68.79Mbps, followed by Vodacom at 39.37Mbps, Telkom on 29.24Mbps, Cell C on 19.88Mbps and Rain on 10.86Mbps.

MTN’s exceptional performance results from outspending its rivals on infrastructure investment over the past five years.

MTN’s R50 billion network investment helped it extend coverage, improve network quality, and increase speeds.

The average download speed in South Africa has increased by more than 10Mbps since the beginning of 2020, thanks to increased network investment and temporary spectrum 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.

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 9.58, followed by Vodacom on 6.25, Telkom on 5.18, Cell C on 4.09, and Rain on 3.42.

The table below provides an overview of the mobile network rankings in South Africa.

MyBroadband Mobile Network Quality Report — South Africa Q3 2021

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