Drive tests by MyBroadband Insights revealed that MTN\u2019s 5G network offers better coverage and higher speeds in Gauteng than its main competitor, Vodacom.<\/p>\n
MyBroadband Insights used four test benches with high-end 5G smartphones for these drive tests.<\/p>\n
The phones used in the test benches were \u2014 Samsung Galaxy S22 5G, Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, Oppo Reno 5 5G, and Huawei P40 Lite 5G.<\/p>\n
Each phone ran a custom version of the MyBroadband Speedtest app. The app tested the download speed, upload speed, latency, and connection type in one-minute intervals.<\/p>\n
As these test benches create identical environments for all the devices on all mobile networks, it provides valuable data for comparison between networks and devices.<\/p>\n
The drive tests covered Pretoria East \u2014 from Villeria to Garsfontein and large parts of Johannesburg, including Randburg and Sandton.<\/p>\n
For this article, we compared the results for Vodacom and MTN for all four phones.<\/p>\n
The data revealed that MTN is still leading Vodacom by a healthy margin when it comes to 5G networks.<\/p>\n
Out of around 1,000 tests for each network, 54% of the MTN tests were done on their 5G network, indicating significant 5G coverage of the areas tested.<\/p>\n
Vodacom, in turn, only had 36% of tests on 5G. This means Vodacom still has a fair way to go to achieve 50% 5G coverage in Gauteng.<\/p>\n
MTN also reigned supreme when it came to 5G performance.<\/p>\n
MTN’s network had an average 5G download speed of 246 Mbps, significantly higher than Vodacom\u2019s 144 Mbps.<\/p>\n
The average upload speed on MTN 5G was 50 Mbps, nearly double the 27 Mbps on Vodacom. MTN also had lower latency.<\/p>\n
The table below provides an overview of Vodacom and MTN\u2019s 5G performance in Gauteng.<\/p>\n