Vodacom gave best voice service, Telkom and Cell C consistently share bottom places
MTN gives the best network performance in South Africa according to a new report by testing company Rohde & Schwarz (R&S). MTN ranked first in quality and performance against South African’s other mobile operators with a score of 763 out of 1000 on the R&S points ranking, in comparison to the 722 achieved by Vodacom, its nearest competitor. Telkom scored at 604 and Cell C was scored at 496.
The Rohde & Schwarz drive-test based data collection campaign was implemented from October 4 to December 8, 2021 and covered South Africa’s major cities, towns and roads. During this period there were significant periods of load shedding and load reduction and this impact is included in these performance scores.
Voice prize goes to Vodacom
In the voice service MTN’s score 342 of R&S’s points and was beaten into second place by Vodacom (349), while Cell C and Telkom were more or less tied on 255 to 256. MTN also outperformed its competitors in data services score – achieving 421 out of 600 for data, in comparison to the 373 achieved by Vodacom.
Telkom scored 347 and Cell C 341. Over 18,600 voice calls and over 125,400 individual data service tests were performed to calculate a Network Performance Score in line with ETSI TR 103 559.
Quality of experience not strained
“The quality of experience delivered to our customers is very important to MTN. We are consistently working to upgrade and modernise our network infrastructure and results such as these work to help us benchmark ourselves against the quality and competitive position of other networks,” Jacqui O’Sullivan, corporate affairs executive at MTN South Africa told African Business Communities. “A high-performing network means connecting the previously unconnected, enhanced connectivity for those already connected and more digital opportunities for.”