Vodacom network quality falls behind in South Africa

MyBroadband Insights’ Q1 2025 Mobile Network Quality Report revealed that MTN had the best network, maintaining its lead, which it developed over the last few years.

The biggest revelation was that Cell C, which partnered with MTN for its network provisioning, replaced Vodacom as the second-best mobile network in South Africa.

This is the first time Vodacom has not been ranked in the top two. It used to compete against MTN for the top spot but has fallen behind in recent years.

MyBroadband Insights’ findings are based on 306,299 speed tests conducted by 6,999 mobile users across the country between 1 January and 31 March 2025.

The testing included a combination of crowdsourced data and dedicated drive tests, providing a comprehensive assessment of mobile network performance.

As part of the drive testing, MyBroadband Insights travelled 13,000 km and tested networks in South Africa’s major cities, towns, and roads.

Testing was performed using high-end smartphones with support for the latest technologies, as well as mid-range devices that reflect the experience of typical users.

MTN dominated overall network performance and consistently outperformed its competitors across the most important metrics.

It recorded the highest average download speed at 82.79 Mbps, followed by Cell C at 63.95 Mbps, Vodacom at 61.36 Mbps, Telkom at 46.60 Mbps, and Rain at 22.79 Mbps.

MTN was also the top-performing network in major metros including Tshwane, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, and Mangaung.

Its strong performance is attributed to continued investment in network infrastructure for both LTE and 5G networks.

Cell C’s rapid network improvement was driven by completing its customer migration to a virtual radio access network hosted by MTN.

The mobile operator has also implemented numerous optimisation strategies to improve its network performance and compete against Vodacom, Telkom, and Rain.

Rain continues to lag the rest of the pack. Its focus on fixed-wireless broadband rather than mobile services may explain its relatively poor mobile network quality.

Best mobile network in South Africa

To determine the best mobile network in South Africa, each network was given a “Network Quality Score” based on download speed, upload speed, and latency.

The Network Quality Score out of 10 then shows how a network performed in relation to other networks.

MTN reigned supreme with a Network Quality Score of 9.92, followed by Cell C at 8.07, Vodacom at 7.21, Telkom at 6.15, and Rain at 4.44.

The table below provides an overview of the mobile network rankings in South Africa.