Vodacom denies poor network quality
Despite objective network tests showing poor results, Vodacom denies failing to meet industry regulator Icasa’s network quality standards.
Icasa’s End-user and Subscriber Charter Regulations sets strict standards for service levels for voice and data from South African telecommunications players.
The regulations require mobile operators to achieve an Average Call Setup Success Ratio (CSSR) of 98% and an Average Dropped Call Ratio (DCR) of below 3%.
It further requires an Average Call Setup Time (CST) of below 9 seconds and an Average Speech Quality Mean Opinion Score (MOS) of higher than 3.
MyBroadband’s mobile network quality tests, using Keysight’s network testing platform, Nemo, showed Vodacom’s voice network performance was far below par in Hartbeespoort.
Vodacom had an Average Call Setup Success Ratio of 91.84%, well below the required 98%.
Vodacom’s Average Dropped Call Ratio was 8.89%, again significantly worse than the 3% required by the regulations.
| Measure | Regulations | Vodacom | Pass/Fail |
| Average Call Setup Success Ratio | Over 98% | 91.84% | Fail |
| Average Dropped Call Ratio | Under 3% | 8.89% | Fail |
| Average Call Setup Time | Under 9s | 2.76s | Pass |
| Average Speech Quality Mean Opinion Score (MOS) | Over 3 | 3.34 | Pass |
Vodacom responds
A Vodacom spokesperson told MyBroadband that Icasa has not recently flagged Quality of Service concerns.
“We disagree with the claim that we are failing to meet Icasa’s regulated standards in this regard,” the spokesperson said.
“It is also important to note that results we garner from other world-class benchmarking services are consistent with Icasa’s test findings.”
Vodacom said load-shedding remains a challenge despite investing over R4 billion in the past three to four years to enhance network resilience.
“Even with this enormous commitment, load-shedding, battery theft and vandalism provide a significant challenge to the country’s operators,” Vodacom said.
The company said customers experiencing network issues should contact Vodacom through its call centre on 082 135 or its chatbot ToBi on 082 009 8624 to investigate.
MyBroadband asked Icasa for feedback about Vodacom’s network quality, but the regulator did not respond by the time of publication.
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