MTN tops network quality in Nelspruit

MyBroadband’s latest mobile voice network quality testing revealed that MTN has the best network performance in Nelspruit, while Cell C failed Icasa’s standards in the area.

These results form part of a network quality testing project to determine the performance of Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom’s mobile networks across South Africa.

MyBroadband partnered with Analytico, Afristay, and Keysight distributor Coral-i for the extensive, country-wide project.

This project uses Keysight’s network testing platform, Nemo, to test a range of variables using high-end Samsung devices.

Network performance was measured according to the latest End-user and Subscriber Charter from industry regulator Icasa.

The regulations require mobile operators to achieve an Average Call Setup Success Ratio (CSSR) of 98% and an Average Dropped Call Ratio (DCR) of below 3%.

It further requires an Average Call Setup Time (CST) of below 9 seconds and an Average Speech Quality Mean Opinion Score (MOS) of higher than 3.

MyBroadband used the globally recognised European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) specification to rank the mobile operators’ voice network quality.

Vodacom and MTN performed very well in Nelspruit, with a 100% CSR and no dropped calls.

Vodacom set calls up slightly faster than MTN, but MTN made up for this with a significantly better MOS than Vodacom.

This put MTN at the top of the list with an overall score of 97.10%, well ahead of Vodacom’s 89.80%.

Telkom also had a 100% CSR but dropped 1.92% of their calls. Telkom took 2.77s on average to set up a call and had a MOS of 3.95, in the middle of the top two networks.

Cell C failed the Icasa standard for the average Dropped Call Ratio by dropping 3.85% of the calls on its network.

It did pass the other requirements and had the second-best MOS of 4.12 in the area.

The table below provides an overview of the voice network quality of Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom in Nelspruit. Figures in red indicate failing call quality standards.

La Roca Guest House

MyBroadband partnered with Afristay for this project, and their excellent service means we stayed in great accommodation during our trip to Nelspruit.

The La Roca Guest House offers luxury boutique rooms bordering the Nelspruit private nature reserve. The rooms are quiet and spacious and look out on the spectacular gardens.

The communal breakfast lapa and pool deck look out on the nature reserve and make it feel more like a tropical jungle holiday than a guesthouse just minutes away from central Nelspruit.

Now read: From 5 free SMSes per day to uncapped 5G — MTN turns 30

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MTN tops network quality in Nelspruit