Cellphone Tower. Picture: iStock
MTN is dominating other networks in South Africa, having the fastest download speeds among all telecom operators in the entire continent, specifically MTN Uganda, which boasts the fastest mobile internet speeds in Africa.
This was revealed by Ookla, the owner of internet speed check website Speedtest.net in its latest analysis on mobile network performance.
The report reflects the internet network performance for the first half of 2025.
Performance
According to the report, MTN South Africa led the region in median download speed, while Vodacom ranked fourth among surveyed operators, but the latter came first for 5G in South Africa.
MTN significantly outperformed in both median download and upload speeds of 74.76 Mbps and 13.65 Mbps, respectively, in H1 2025, while Vodacom recorded 52.31 Mbps and 7.88 Mbps, respectively.
However, Vodacom took the top spot with 5G median download and upload speeds of 174.9 Mbps and 11.86 Mbps, respectively.
South Africa
This advantage is linked to the use of a wider bandwidth of spectrum bands and a network strategy that prioritizes network densification in urban centres.
“South Africa is the continent’s most technologically advanced and competitive telecom market. Despite economic and sociopolitical challenges, the market for data and enterprise services remains attractive,” the report read.
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Africa
MTN also took the top spot in Nigeria and Uganda, way ahead of Airtel in terms of median download and upload speeds.
According to the report, MTN Uganda is the top performer among the surveyed opcos in East Africa, while MTN Nigeria outperformed other operators in West Africa in 5G download speed.
Orange was the second-fastest major rival of MTN’s telecom operations in Africa managing a median of 52Mbps.
Safaricom managed median download speeds more than 2.4x higher than those of Airtel at 43 Mbps and 15.11 Mbps, respectively. Ookla states that this was the largest gap between two telecoms in any reviewed market.
Mobile operators
In terms of regional differences, operators in Southern Africa tend to perform better than those in Eastern Africa, with median download speeds above 45 Mbps,” the report read.
“Operators in Eastern Africa also deliver better network download speeds than those in Western Africa, where the top speed reached 35.25 Mbps for Orange (Côte d’Ivoire) in H1 2025.”
Africa remains appealing to telecom groups because of a combination of a young and rapidly growing population and demand for digital and financial services, Ookla said.
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Growth
Despite positive economic prospects, the groups reported headwinds in the form of currency devaluation and inflation impacting revenue, high and fluctuating energy costs, subdued economic growth affecting demand, and regulatory interventions, such as a reduction in mobile termination rates in Uganda (affecting MTN and Airtel).
Tariff adjustments helped some operators, such as Airtel in Nigeria, to accelerate revenue growth to offset the effect of currency devaluation.
Telecommunications
The report revealed that the telecommunications landscape in Africa is characterized by significant regional disparities and competitive dynamics among major groups.
MTN continues to dominate in terms of median download speeds across multiple countries while Vodacom, leading in subscriber numbers in certain markets, faces challenges in speed performance, particularly in regions lacking 5G services.
Ookla said the ongoing investments by these operators, particularly in 4G and 5G infrastructure, should help them meet the growing demand for digital services, while the quality of connectivity should give them a competitive edge to grow their market shares and monetize their investments.
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