Armchair analysts typically choose the cheapest service they can find in another country and use this as a benchmark for the cost of mobile data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, these benchmarks seldom consider the network’s quality when analysing mobile data prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People do not expect to pay the same for an iPhone 16 as an entry-level Mobicel Vibe, and the same goes for mobile networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vodacom and MTN invest an average of R10 billion annually in their networks to ensure they offer a world-class service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MyBroadband recently visited the United Kingdom to test the quality of its networks and see how it compared to Vodacom and MTN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We used two UK networks \u2013 Three and EE. The performance was similar, and we will focus on Three for this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We purchased Three’s “Go Unlimited” package at the airport, which offers unlimited data, calls, and SMSes for a month for \u00a335 (R816).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The product sounds fantastic, especially as the service includes 5G access with the payoff line “Life Needs a Big Network”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is easy to activate because no RICA is required. You put the SIM in your phone, restart it, and you are connected. Fantastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the cracks started to show as soon as we tried to use the service. Initially, we thought there was a problem with the SIM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The service would not connect in many areas, and when it did, it was so slow that it reminded us of the old GPRS and EDGE days in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We realised that the poor performance had nothing to do with the SIM. It was simply what one could expect on Three’s network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have become so accustomed to Vodacom and MTN’s brilliant networks that we thought it would be the same in all developed countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many indoor venues had little to no coverage, so using your phone inside a shopping centre or restaurant was almost impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We regularly swapped between networks trying to access the Internet, as coverage was patchy on both Three and EE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When there was good 5G coverage \u2014 typically in more rural settings without many buildings \u2014 the network achieved speeds of around 500Mbps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, these high speeds were few and far between, and it was far more likely to have no Internet access than enjoy fast speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we arrived back in South Africa, we replicated the tests in the UK on Vodacom’s network for a comparative analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not a single speed test failed, and we regularly achieved speeds of 500Mbps on Vodacom’s 5G network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This comparison showed that South Africans enjoy world-class mobile networks and that Vodacom and MTN compare well to their counterparts in the developed world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The table below shows Three UK’s performance compared to Vodacom SA based on speed tests performed over two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vodacom dominated every department, including download speed, upload speed, latency, and reliability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the numbers alone do not tell the full story as it is difficult to show the frustration when you cannot connect in a mall or shopping centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality is that it is irrelevant how cheap mobile data is when you cannot connect. Quality at a higher price trumps no connectivity, which is cheap every day of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Using an unlimited data and voice package in England and Scotland made us appreciate the excellent mobile networks in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":538279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[16376,42,62170,41],"class_list":["post-577251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-ee","tag-mtn","tag-three","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":577268,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577251\/revisions\/577268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThree UK versus Vodacom SA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Measure<\/th> Three UK<\/th> Vodacom SA<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Download speed<\/td> 83Mbps<\/td> 231Mbps<\/td><\/tr> Upload speed<\/td> 16Mbps<\/td> 33Mbps<\/td><\/tr> Latency<\/td> 25ms<\/td> 19ms<\/td><\/tr> Failed tests<\/td> 52%<\/td> 0%<\/td><\/tr> Overall experience<\/td> Poor<\/mark><\/strong><\/td> Excellent<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n