MyBroadband Insights has published its 2024 Mobile Network Quality Report, pre-emptively answering the question on our lips: who’s got the best mobile network in South Africa? The report dished out awards to several of South Africa’s home-grown networks, ultimately crowning MTN as the ‘best’ overall mobile network over the year, leaving Vodacom, Telkom, Rain, and Cell C to squabble over 2nd place.
The report spans from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024, comprising 1.17 million speed tests performed by 18,649 mobile data users. The year-long test includes data from “crowdsourced users” and “dedicated drive tests” (involving a mix of high-end smartphones and mid-range devices) to best ensure the most accurate representation of all local networks spread around the country.
MTN takes the cake (again)
Unsurprisingly, MTN held onto its number-one spot with an average download speed of 80.88Mbps (Megabits per second), while Vodacom’s 65.14Mbps figure was enough for it to save face as 2024’s runner-up. It’s all downhill from there, with Cell-C nabbing third at 54.43Mbps, then Telkom at 34.07Mbps, and finally Rain at 21.82Mbps.
MTN continued to prove its worth as the best-performing network in Tshwane, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, and Mangaung. MyBroadband Insights puts down the solid win to MTN’s continued extensive investment throughout 2024, introducing more than 6,200 Radio Access Network (RAN) activities such as new site builds, regular transmission upgrades, and modernising dated systems.
Read More: MTN launches a biodegradable SIM card to help reduce plastic pollution
Vodacom, however, managed to nab the award for best 5G network performance in South Africa, a feat enabled by the company’s continual expansion of its network throughout the country. Cell C showed the best improvement throughout 2024, closing in on Vodacom’s second-place spot by nearly doubling its network speeds over the past eighteen months. Maybe next year, huh?
MyBroadband Insights’ results weren’t just determined by speeds and overall 5G coverage. The report hands out a “Network Quality Score” dependent on average download and upload speeds, and latency. This score – out of ten – helps users visualise the overall scores of South Africa’s networks in relation to one another over 2024.
