Every network operating in South Africa will often eulogise that it is the best available, cherry picking highly specific metrics where it outperforms its competitors and claiming the title of top service provider.

It is why we turn to reports like the ones created by mobile analytics firm OpenSignal to provide a more objective perspective on matters.

With that in mind, OpenSignal has shared its Mobile Experience Report, looking at various performance categories for the main networks operating locally – MTN, Vodacom, Telkom and Cell C.

The methodology for this reporting took place over 90 days between 1st November 2021 and 29th January 2022.

While 5G performance contributed to the report, OpenSignal explains that it looked at a number of different metrics, which naturally included download and upload speeds, but also looked at elements like Voice App experience, which is increasingly important given the need to be able to work remotely these days.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, and as the image below details, MTN, Vodacom and Telkom were the best performing networks of the four, scooping up most of the wards in the report, while Cell C claimed nothing, which serves as a rather damning indication of where the service provider finds itself currently.

“In this report on Mobile Network Experience in South Africa, we saw seven outright wins secured by three different operators. Vodacom collects the most awards — the three experiential trophies (Video Experience, Games Experience, Voice App Experience), along with the 4G Coverage Experience award,” OpenSignal noting in a landing page for the report.

“MTN firmly snatched the speed awards — Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience — placing comfortably ahead of Vodacom in both. Meanwhile, Telkom claims its only award for 4G Availability — with a score of nearly 90%,” it adds.

It therefore serves as a solid indication as to which network to opt for depending on what your needs are. To that end, if you have the need for speed (excuse the Top Gun reference), then MTN is it, but when it comes to streaming and content consumption, Vodacom comes out on top.

“MTN wins the Download Speed Experience award, with a score of 27.6 Mbps — 4.7 Mbps (20.7%) ahead of second-placed Vodacom,” OpenSignal’s key findings lay out.

“On top of solely claiming the Download Speed Experience award, MTN wins Upload Speed Experience outright with a score of 7.9 Mbps. Vodacom also places second in this category — 1.9 Mbps behind the winning operator. Similar to Download Speed Experience, Cell C and Telkom place joint third, with statistically tied scores of 3.7 and 3.5 Mbps,” it adds.

To look through the report yourself in full, head here.