{"id":48161,"date":"2026-01-23T04:57:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=48161"},"modified":"2026-01-23T04:57:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:57:54","slug":"mtn-cell-c-vodacom-rain-who-best-mobile-network-sa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/23\/mtn-cell-c-vodacom-rain-who-best-mobile-network-sa\/","title":{"rendered":"MTN, Cell C, Vodacom and Rain? Who is the best mobile network in SA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>Testing was performed using high-end smartphones with support for the latest technologies. <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Mobile network MTN continues to dominate its competitors, especially Cell C and Vodacom, in the battle for the best mobile network quality.<\/p>\n<p>Cell C maintained its second spot with Vodacom in third place.<\/p>\n<p>MyBroadband Insights published the latest data in its Mobile Network Quality Report for 2025, revealing that MTN continues to offer the best mobile network in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, while Vodacom has the best 5G network in South Africa, it still lags behind Cell C in overall performance.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-download-speed\">Download speed<\/h2>\n<p>MTN dominated overall network performance and consistently outperformed its competitors across key metrics.<\/p>\n<p>It recorded the highest average download speed at 83.94Mbps, followed by Vodacom at 67.02Mbps, Cell C at 61.9Mbps, Telkom at 44.94Mbps, and Rain at 22.13Mbps.<\/p>\n<p>MTN was also the top-performing network in major metros, including Tshwane, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, and Mangaung.<\/p>\n<p>Its strong performance is attributed to continued investment in LTE and 5G infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ: These are the fastest mobile and fixed internet providers in SA<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-upload-speed\">Upload speed<\/h3>\n<p>Cell C retained second place overall, ahead of Vodacom, with significantly better average upload speeds to compensate for the slightly slower download speed.<\/p>\n<p>Cell C\u2019s performance is closing in but not quite matching MTN\u2019s, which hosts its virtual radio access network.<\/p>\n<p>Vodacom delivered the best 5G performance in the country, driven by the ongoing investment in the latest network technologies.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-best-mobile-network-in-south-africa\">Best mobile network in South Africa<\/h3>\n<p>MTN reigned supreme with a Network Quality Score of 9.96, followed by Cell C at 8.02, Vodacom at 7.69, Telkom at 6.06, and Rain at 4.38.<\/p>\n<p>The table below provides an overview of the mobile network rankings in South Africa.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"262\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4299024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MTN-Cell-C-Vodacom-and-Rain-Who-is-the-best.jpg?resize=640%2C262&#038;ssl=1\"\/><noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"262\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MTN-Cell-C-Vodacom-and-Rain-Who-is-the-best.jpg?resize=640%2C262&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4299024\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-findings\">Findings<\/h3>\n<p>The findings are based on 1.3 million speed tests conducted by mobile users across South Africa during 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The testing combined crowdsourced data and dedicated drive tests to provide a comprehensive assessment of mobile network performance.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-using-smartphones\">Using smartphones<\/h3>\n<p>As part of the drive testing, MyBroadband Insights travelled 73 000km and tested networks in South Africa\u2019s major cities, towns, and roads.<\/p>\n<p>Testing was performed on high-end smartphones supporting the latest technologies, as well as on mid-range devices that reflect the experience of typical users.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The Network Quality Score, out of 10, shows how a network performs relative to others.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOW READ: Google launches news initiative in a bid to bridge digital divide for community media<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#MTN #Cell #Vodacom #Rain #mobile #network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Testing was performed using high-end smartphones with support for the latest technologies. Mobile network MTN continues to dominate its competitors,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48163,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48161\/revisions\/48163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}