MTN ranked best mobile network across South Africa, outperforming contenders by wide margin

MTN has again been ranked as the best mobile network in South Africa. This is according to independent network performance tests conducted by MyBroadband in the second quarter of 2020. MTN achieved a Network Quality Score of 9.94, visibly outperforming the second runner-up, who scored 6.17.

MTN SA’s network has also emerged as the best network in Tshwane, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban where it achieved a Network Quality Score of 10.00, 9.99, 9.70 and 9.70 respectively. The network score is a value which shows the relative performance of networks, with a maximum score of 10.

These results are significant as, over the last three months of varying levels of lockdown, the MTN network has seen increased data consumption on prepaid and post-paid, with data traffic more than doubling from this time last year, mainly due to many businesses adopting a work-from-home policy.

“The consumption trends we are seeing, including significant traffic growth across social media platforms and video streaming services are testament to the amount of time consumers are currently spending online,” says Jacqui ‘O Sullivan, Corporate Affairs Executive: MTN SA. “Through it all, our network has remained stable throughout April, May and June, thanks in no small part to the continuous end-to-end monitoring of network capacity across our entire operation.”

MTN has recorded a spike in social media data consumption, particularly Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Video streaming platforms, such as YouTube, Netflix and DSTV, have also seen a significant spike, as has gaming data consumption.

The shift in geographic consumption has also been significant, with very low usage in business CBDs and higher than normal usage in residential areas.

“We have implemented several measures to deal with various localised traffic volume scenarios, optimised our radio access network, and made transmission capacity upgrades, core capacity management, and load-balancing improvements,” continues O’Sullivan. “It is this commitment to maintenance and continuous investment in improving our network that we believe has put us ahead of the game.

“Moving forward, customers still working and playing from home can take comfort in the fact that their online activities are supported by South Africa’s best network, bringing them a seamless network experience everywhere they go, or stay – and this is something of which we are incredibly proud. Everyone is entitled to a modern, connected life and we are making it our mission to deliver on this,” concludes O’Sullivan.

The results of the MyBroadband Network Quality Report are based on Android Speed Test App results recorded between 1 April and 30 June 2020. The download speed (60%), upload speed (20%), and latency (20%) were used to calculate a Network Quality Score – a value which shows the relative performance of a network, with a maximum score of 10.

A total of 17 573 unique Android Speed Test App users conducted 278 890 speed tests during this period.