Cellphone Tower. Picture: iStock
MTN continues to dominate the top spot as the best mobile network in South Africa, dominating overall network performance and consistently outperforming its competitors across the most important metrics.
This is according to the MyBroadband Insights Q3 2025 Mobile Network Quality Report.
Download speed
According to the report, MTN recorded the highest average download speed at 93.72 Mbps, followed by Vodacom at 72.2 Mbps, Cell C at 66.64 Mbps, Telkom at 46.24 Mbps, and Rain at 22.93 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 infrastructure for both LTE and 5G networks.
NOW READ: AWS cloud services hit by hours-long global outage including SA
Other networks
Cell C retained second place overall, ahead of Vodacom, with significantly better average upload speeds to compensate for the slightly slower download speed.
Cell C’s performance is driven by completing its customer migration to a virtual radio access network hosted by MTN and optimisation strategies.
Vodacom delivered the best 5G performance in the country, driven by its ongoing investment in the latest network technologies.
Testing
The findings are based on 313,632 speed tests conducted by mobile users across South Africa between 1 July and 30 September 2025.
It 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 20,000 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.
Scoring
To determine the best mobile network, 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 compared to other networks.
MTN reigned supreme with a Network Quality Score of 9.95, followed by Cell C at 7.82, Vodacom at 7.45, Telkom at 5.74, and Rain at 4.12.
The table below provides an overview of the mobile network rankings in South Africa.
NOW READ: FNB and RMB customers on Huawei and Android devices get a new way to pay
