This is the best-performing mobile network in South Africa again
· Citizen
South Africa’s mobile landscape has once again been dominated by MTN, which emerged as the country’s top‑performing operator.
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This was revealed in the latest MyBroadband Insights Mobile Network Quality Report for the second quarter of 2026.
Study
The study, based on more than 360,000 speed tests and 20,000km of drive‑testing across major cities and towns, confirmed MTN’s supremacy in overall performance, while Vodacom retained its crown in 5G but slipped to third place overall.
The quarterly report combined crowdsourced data with dedicated drive tests, using both high‑end smartphones and mid‑range devices to reflect typical user experiences.
Download speed
MTN recorded the highest average download speed at 91.11 Mbps, well ahead of Vodacom at 71.13 Mbps, Cell C at 65.76 Mbps, Telkom at 52.56 Mbps, and Rain at 22.27 Mbps.
MTN also led on upload speeds with 32.46Mbps, narrowly behind Cell C’s 32.48Mbps, while Vodacom managed 17.27Mbps, Telkom 12.14Mbps, and Rain 11.32Mbps.
Latency
Latency results further underscored MTN’s dominance at 29ms, compared to Vodacom’s 31ms, Telkom’s 30ms, Cell C’s 41ms, and Rain’s 28ms.
MTN ranked first in all major metros, including Tshwane, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Mangaung.
Analysts attribute its strong showing to sustained investment in LTE and 5G infrastructure, which has consistently kept it ahead of rivals.
Other operators
Cell C delivered a surprise by climbing to second place overall, with its improved 4G performance rivalling MTN’s. Vodacom, despite offering the country’s best 5G network, dropped to third place as weaker 4G results dragged down its overall score.
Telkom remained in fourth position, while Rain continued to lag far behind competitors.
To determine rankings, MyBroadband Insights applied a Network Quality Score (NQS) out of 10, factoring in download speed, upload speed, and latency.
MTN achieved a near‑perfect score of 9.96, followed by Cell C at 7.70, Vodacom at 7.55, Telkom at 6.05, and Rain at 4.16.
Picture: MyBroadbandFindings
The findings highlight the competitive strengths and weaknesses of South Africa’s operators. MTN’s dominance underscores the value of infrastructure investment.
Vodacom’s 5G leadership shows the importance of next‑generation technology, and Cell C’s rise reflects improved 4G delivery – though its lack of 5G remains a constraint.