South Africaranks in 64th place out 137 countries in terms of mobile network excellence, outpacing some of its African peers.
This is based on insights in the latest Global Network Excellence Index, compiled by mobile analytics company Opensignal.
The index is based on direct measurements of user experience, evaluating countries across three core pillars: 4G/5G availability, how consistently networks support demanding applications, as well as 4G and 5G download speeds.
It provides a country-level ranking and assessment of mobile infrastructure capabilities worldwide, evaluated as of the fourth quarter of 2024. The countries are segmented based on World Bank region, landmass size, and income level definitions and data.
Included in the 137 markets evaluated are South Africa, South Korea, Denmark, Namibia, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Kenya, the UK and US.
Opensignal discovered that spectrum strategy is a competitive advantage, with markets that released large mid-band (3.5GHz) spectrum enjoying faster 5G speeds and higher capacity, while delayed or fragmented spectrum allocation risks slowing mobile network evolution.
It further found that countries with progressive digital strategy and regulatory reform programmes, including e-government, are higher performers.
User experience matters
In the case of 4G/5G availability, Opensignal measureshow often users connect to a modern network, revealing coverage gaps that impact productivity, education and essential services.
It notes that several key factors influence 4G/5G availability: network presence, device ecosystem and affordability, and market competition and policy frameworks.
For 4G/5G availability, SA received an overall ranking of 58, in comparison to the US, which is ranked number one, for example. Other African nations also haven’t performed well in this area, with Mauritius at 95th place.
However, when compared to its African counterparts, SA does well, ranking number one overall in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. It is followed closely by Mauritius.
Says Opensignal: “While 4G and 5G access is expanding globally, gaps in network availability remain a major challenge, often resulting in customer churn and limiting access to essential services in rural and underserved regions. Bridging these gaps is critical for digital inclusion and economic development.”
Despite challenging economic times and 5G-capable smartphones and devices still being expensive for many South Africans, the country’s telcoscontinue to roll out 5G.
South Africa leads the way when it comes to 5G network deployment in Sub-Saharan Africa, with expectations that more 5G networks will come online across the African continent this year.
Mobile network operators MTN, Telkom and Vodacom, for example, have started rolling out 5G services in SA, albeit still mostly concentrated in the big cities.
Turning to excellent consistent quality (ECQ), or how networks support demanding applications, Opensignal shows SA ranks at 69th spot.
The ECQ measures whether users have a seamless experience for applications like video calls, e-commerce and mobile banking without disruptions. The thresholds are based on real-world performance requirements from widely-accepted industry standards, service provider recommendations and user experience expectations.
To measure download speed, Opensignal considered factors such as sufficient spectrum allocation, infrastructure density, deployed network technology, as well as network optimisation.
South Africa’s download speeds for 4G rank in 81st place, while 5G download speeds fare much better at 32nd spot.
According to the research firm, download speed is a strong indicator of a network’s ability to support future demand, as it reflects both current performance and long-term investment in infrastructure.
“While 5G offers significant speed gains, strong 4G performance still plays a crucial role in network capacity, especially in markets where 5G adoption is still growing.
“Lower-income markets may have lower adoption of 5G-capable devices due to affordability constraints. High 4G speeds in these regions signal an uncongested network, indicating robust capacity that can be leveraged when 5G adoption scales up.
“Additionally, the spectrum currently allocated to 4G can later be refarmed for 5G, benefiting from greater spectral efficiency and supporting faster speeds in the future.”
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