MyBroadband Insights has released its Q1 2019 Mobile Network Quality Report, based on 345 700 speed tests which were performed by thousands of MyBroadband’s Android Speed Test App users across the country between 1 January and 31 March.

The findings show that South Africa had an average mobile download speed of 24.2 Mbps during this period, which is up from 22.18 Mbps in the previous quarter. 

Let’s take a look at the findings.

The report shows that MTN had the highest average download speed, coming in at a staggering 32.99 Mbps. 

This was followed by Vodacom at 27.21 Mbps, Rain at 21.62 Mbps, Telkom Mobile at 21.99 Mbps and Cell C at 17.19 Mbps.

As pointed out by the director of MyBroadband Insights, Marius Hollenbach, the ranking of these telecommunication operators has remained the same as the previous quarter, but we’ve seen a higher performance average across the board. 

Given that South Africa was hammered by wide-spread load-shedding over the last three months, it just goes to show how well our mobile networks are performing. 

Isn’t that refreshing?

Hollenbach also highlighted that MTN has made significantly more investments into its network over the last couple of years – much higher than the others – and that it certainly shows. 

Of course, having the fastest download speed is one thing, but how do we know which network offers the best overall quality?

In order to determine this, MyBroadband calculated a Network Quality Score for each network using download speed, upload speed and latency. Each network was then awarded a score out of 10.

MTN, again, came out on top, scoring a full 10/10 Network Quality Score. 

This was followed by Vodacom with 8.33, Rain with 7.01, Telkom Mobile with 6.26 and Cell C – which should really stop trying, because it’s just getting sad now – with 5.89. 

The report also revealed which areas in South Africa enjoy the fastest average mobile speeds. 

The key word there is average, meaning that the speeds given include results from all mobile network operators in that area. 

According to the results, residents in Bloemfontein enjoy the highest average mobile speeds, with download speeds of up to 42.29 Mbps. 

This was followed by Groenkloof, Irene, Waterkloof and Umhlanga to round up the top five areas.  

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