MTN crushes Vodacom in Bloemfontein

MyBroadband’s latest mobile voice network quality testing revealed that MTN has the best network performance in Bloemfontein.

Telkom has the worst performance in the Free State capital and failed to meet Icasa’s Call Setup Success Ratio standard.

These results form part of a network quality testing project to determine the performance of Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom’s mobile networks across South Africa.

MyBroadband partnered with Analytico, Afristay, and Keysight distributor Coral-i for the extensive, country-wide project.

This project uses Keysight’s network testing platform, Nemo, to test a range of variables using high-end Samsung devices.

Network performance was measured according to the latest End-user and Subscriber Charter from industry regulator Icasa.

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 used the globally recognised European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) specification to rank the mobile operators’ voice network quality.

MTN is easily the best network tested in Bloemfontein, with a final score of 91.4%. It managed to connect 100% of the calls made on the network and dropped 1.35%.

MTN also had the fastest average call setup time of only 1.74s and the best call quality with a MOS of 4.31.

Cell C beat Vodacom for second place, scoring 81.1% and 74.6%, respectively. Both networks passed all the Icasa requirements.

Telkom was the only network in Bloemfontein to fail an Icasa requirement, with an average Call Success ratio of only 93.51% compared to the required 98%.

The table below provides an overview of the voice network quality of Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom in Bloemfontein.

The Villa

MyBroadband partnered with Afristay for this project, and I stayed at The Villa in Bloemfontein.

It is located in the northern suburbs of Bloemfontein and is within walking distance from Northridge Mall.

A big garden separates the rooms from the main road, which leads to a quiet and comfortable stay.

The rooms are nice and spacious, and I even had my own balcony overlooking the garden.

The hosts are very friendly, and I had a lovely stay.