Telecommunications

MTN vs Vodacom vs Telkom vs Cell C vs Rain – and the winner is clear

Luke Fraser

 ·22 Jan 2026

MTN has the best mobile network in South Africa, according to the insights from MyBroadband’s 2025 Mobile Network Quality Report

The findings are based on 1.3 million speed tests conducted by mobile users across South Africa in 2025.

The testing included a combination of crowdsourced data and dedicated drive tests, which provide a comprehensive assessment of mobile network performance.

As part of the drive testing, MyBroadband Insights travelled over 70,000 km and tested networks across South Africa’s major cities, towns, and roads.

Testing was then performed using high-end smartphones that leverage the latest technologies and mid-range devices that reflect the experience of average users.

MTN dominated the overall network performance and consistently outperformed its competitors across the most critical metrics.

MTN recorded the highest average download speed at 83.94Mbps, which was followed by Vodacom’s 67.02Mbps, Cell C’s 61.9 Mbps, Telkom’s 44.94Mbps, and Rain’s 22.13Mbps.

MTN was also the top-performing network in major metros, including Tshwane, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, and Mangaung.

MyBroadband said that the strong performance is attributed to continued investment in LTE and 5G infrastructure.

Cell C was second place overall, ahead of Vodacom, with significantly better average upload speeds that compensated for slightly slower download speeds.

Cell C’s performance is closing in but not quite matching MTN’s, which hosts its virtual radio access network.

Vodacom, however, delivered the best 5G performance in the country, driven by the ongoing investment in the latest network technologies.

To determine the best mobile network in the country, each is given a “Network Quality Score” that includes download speed, upload speed, and latency.

The Network Quality Score, out of 10, shows how a network performed relative to other networks.

MTN was top 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.