Best mobile network in South Africa in 2024

MyBroadband Insights has released its 2024 Mobile Network Quality Report, which shows that MTN has the best mobile network in South Africa.

The report is based on 1.17 million speed tests performed by 18,649 mobile data users across South Africa between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024.

The testing included data from crowdsourced users and dedicated drive tests, ensuring a balanced and accurate representation of real-world network performance.

As part of the dedicated drive tests, MyBroadband Insights covered 52,000 km and performed testing in all of South Africa’s major cities and large towns.

The dedicated drive tests used smartphones that support the latest technologies, as well as mid-range smartphones that replicate the experience of most users.

MTN reigned supreme in all aspects of the network performance tests and significantly outperformed its major rivals.

MTN had the highest average download speed at 80.88 Mbps, followed by Vodacom at 65.14 Mbps, Cell C at 54.43, Telkom at 34.07 Mbps, and Rain at 21.82 Mbps.

MTN was also the top-performing network across major cities, including Tshwane, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, and Mangaung.

Its strong performance followed extensive investment in network resilience and rolling out more than 6,200 new Radio Access Network activities.

These activities include modernisation, new site builds, sectorisations, and transmission upgrades.

It also implemented advanced network optimisation techniques, such as software upgrades, energy-efficient equipment, and smart load balancing.

Vodacom achieved the best 5G performance in South Africa, driven by the continuous expansion of its 5G network.

Cell C was the biggest surprise of 2024. Its network speeds doubled over the last eighteen months, and it is closing in on Vodacom in second place.

Cell C said this improvement resulted from completing its customer migration to a virtual radio access network hosted by MTN and optimisation strategies.

Network quality score

To determine the best mobile network in South Africa, each network was given a “Network Quality Score” based on 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 9.9, followed by Vodacom at 7.72, Cell C at 7.12, Telkom at 5.07, and Rain at 4.51.

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