Mobile operator MTN has secured the top position in MyBroadband Insights’ fourth-quarter 2018 ‘Mobile Network Quality’ report.
The quarterly report revealed MTN as South Africa’s best mobile network, based on 383 479 speed tests conducted between October 1 and December 31, 2018.
MTN achieved a network quality score of ten – the highest value obtainable when comparing the relative performance of networks.
Vodacom achieved a score of 9.68, Rain 8.04, Telkom 6.88 and Cell C 6.16.
The network quality score was calculated for each network using download speed, upload speed and latency.
The results of the testing by 12 092 MyBroadband Android Speed Test App users showed that South Africa had an average mobile download speed of 22.18 Mb/s during the period, with MTN reported as having the highest average download speed at 26.95 Mb/s.
This was followed by Vodacom at 26.78 Mb/s, Rain at 21.67 Mb/s, Telkom at 19.83 Mb/s and Cell C at 15.56 Mb/s.
“The results were in line with expectations and closely tracked the network investments by mobile operators,” said MyBroadband Insights director Marius Hollenbach, adding that MTN had invested R43.6-billion over the last four years to expand its third-generation and long-term evolution (LTE) network footprint across the country.
“MTN’s network investment over the past few years was significantly higher than Vodacom’s and the results now show the impact of this investment,” he said.
The investment helped MTN to launch 11 000 LTE sites, which brought its fourth-generation population coverage in the country up to 90%.